Solution Scope: Best practices/Nature based solution/Multi actor lab

Target Contaminant: All

Solution Provider or Contact Point: Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) Environmental Modelling Unit (RMA), Project Coordinator (PC) Dr. Jean-Luc de Kok  

Centre for Applied Soil Science and Biology (CEBAS-CSIC) https://www.soilwaterconservation.es/; Government of the Region of Murcia (CARM); Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives of Murcia (FECOAM)

Project: https://h2020-coastal.eu/

ITS Description: Holistic proposal for the Restoration of Mar Menor including the implementation of wetland as green filters, changing ploughing practices, adding field hedges, training and capacity building and denetrification with woodchip bioreactors
A Multi Actor Lab is a form of Real World Laboratory that acts as a governance structure of multi level and multi interest participation with the aim to create consensus and ownership of the solutions that are to be implemented.
For Mar Menor, the outcome of the MAL was a roadmap of 14 solutions, 4 of which address nutrient inputs. Solutions include policy and technological (denitrification) innovations as well as Nature Based (restoration of natural drainage networks, wetlands as green filters) and agroecological approaches (cover crop rotations and diversification, multifunctional hedges). Combined these solutions estimate to reduce nutrients by 85%.
The strength of the solution is the governance structure which created ownership through iterative meetings between all actors involved. Together, actors identified the problems and potential solutions and participated in the development of a model that helps quantifying the impacts of proposed solutions on indicators of environmental, social and economic sustainability. Since one solution might be positive for the environment, but negative for the economy, you need additional solutions that can compensate the economic losses. The co-developed model support decision making by quantifying positive and negative impacts of proposed solutions for different sectors. For Mar Menor, the model is now being prepared as online interactive decision support tool can also be used as decision support tool for the Digital Twin Ocean.

Correspondence with BMM OIR (sectoral priorities, R&I activities, gaps, needs): The ITS is strongly identified in the areas of activity of Elimination/Remediation of a lagoon.  The solution responds to challenges for the agriculture sector. It responds to the multi-level policy challenge. The Multi Actor Lab of Mar Menor is an excellent example how MALs can serve as the enabling factor to reach consensus on solutions implementation. A long-term policy / legal framework is required to establish and maintain these multi actor governance structures and create mechanism to allow for implementations of solutions designed through these processes, which would allow for an impartial facilitation and implementation of the solutions.