Today, let’s discover about the INCLUSIVE research project ACTeon is involved in, funded by the Belmont Forum, a partnership of funding organizations, international science councils, and regional consortia committed to the advancement of transdisciplinary science.
Together with the French reference institution BRGM (Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières), ACTeon is involved on INCLUSIVE, a stakeholder-supported decision making project for sustainable management of soil and groundwater.
INCLUSIVE is a project focusing on how to involve stakeholders in the development of integrated land use and ground waters management plans. Groundwaters are essential water resources, providing supplies for consumptive uses and supporting the development within the agricultural, urban development and industrial sector.
In this research framework, ACTeon worked on a case study focused on the Seudre watershed management program. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for quantitative water management and climate change adaptation in the Seudre river basin. The main objective of the study was to assess the hydrological impact of NbS at the river basin scale, using a hydrogeological flux model developed by the BRGM (MARTHE). A literature review on NbS and quantitative management was done to identify the sort of NbS adapted to the local context.
The NbS studied were the following ones :
- Hedgerows network
- Soil conservation practices
- Peatland restoration
ACTeon and the BRGM worked together with local stakeholders to elaborate a series of modelling scenarios and to validate hypothesis on the hydrological impacts of NbS. Then, a specific setting of the hydrological model was implemented with variable infiltration and withdrawal parameters, based on the NbS scenarios. The conclusions of the modelling experiment shed light on the hydrological impacts of NbS at the river basin scale, to inspire an operational water management program including climate change adaptation.
Thoughts from the Team
“Animating a participatory modelling process on Nature-based Solutions was very exciting, with a huge investment of local stakeholders. Discussions between water, agriculture and nature conservation stakeholders were instructive. Introducing the hydrogeological model to the stakeholders and integrating their ideas in the process was satisfying, with some challenging issues” Charles Antoine, Agricultural engineer
