The outcome of the meeting is a document with 50 proposals to face drought that will be sent to the Catalan Government. / Aigua és vida.

The researchers Enric Vázquez-Suñé and Marc Teixidó Planes, from the Groundwater and Hydrogeochemistry group, have participated in the Social Summit for the Drought (Cimera Social per la Sequera, in Catalan) celebrated on May 6th in Girona. The Summit reached a territorial consensus to demand transparency and access to information in managing the drought and advance the application of some urgent measures.

The meeting was attended by members of 15 associations and local platforms, and supported by the Institut d’Estudis Regionals Metropolitans de Barcelona (IERMB), l’Institut de Diagnòstic Ambiental i Estudis de l’Aigua – CSIC and the UNESCO Chair of Sustainable Human Development (UdG).

The attendees discussed several proposals to address the drought structurally in the short, medium, and long term and to strengthen the Generalitat’s Drought Plan. A key conclusion was to request greater transparency in the management of the drought and access to data by citizens. More space for social and environmental movements and the scientific community was also demanded in the development of public policies to address the drought.

One of the main topics of the Social Summit for the Drought was how to manage the growing demand for water. All participants agreed that the drought is not only caused by the lack of rain but mainly by historical mismanagement of the water, which has offered water to all sectors and has contributed to the increase in global consumption without considering the availability of water.

The next step of the Summit will be to arrange a meeting with the president of the Generalitat to put forward their proposals and look at strategies to put them into action immediately.

 

The outcome of the meeting is a document with 50 proposals to face drought that will be sent to the Catalan Government. / Aigua és vida.

The researchers Enric Vázquez-Suñé and Marc Teixidó Planes, from the Groundwater and Hydrogeochemistry group, have participated in the Social Summit for the Drought (Cimera Social per la Sequera, in Catalan) celebrated on May 6th in Girona. The Summit reached a territorial consensus to demand transparency and access to information in managing the drought and advance the application of some urgent measures.

The meeting was attended by members of 15 associations and local platforms, and supported by the Institut d’Estudis Regionals Metropolitans de Barcelona (IERMB), l’Institut de Diagnòstic Ambiental i Estudis de l’Aigua – CSIC and the UNESCO Chair of Sustainable Human Development (UdG).

The attendees discussed several proposals to address the drought structurally in the short, medium, and long term and to strengthen the Generalitat’s Drought Plan. A key conclusion was to request greater transparency in the management of the drought and access to data by citizens. More space for social and environmental movements and the scientific community was also demanded in the development of public policies to address the drought.

One of the main topics of the Social Summit for the Drought was how to manage the growing demand for water. All participants agreed that the drought is not only caused by the lack of rain but mainly by historical mismanagement of the water, which has offered water to all sectors and has contributed to the increase in global consumption without considering the availability of water.

The next step of the Summit will be to arrange a meeting with the president of the Generalitat to put forward their proposals and look at strategies to put them into action immediately.