SpongeScapes aims to consolidate, expand, and disseminate scientific knowledge to improve the sponge function of soil, groundwater, and surface water systems and accelerate the appropriation by all stakeholders. SpongeScapes will contribute to enhancing climate resilience against hydrological extremes at the landscape scale: We will review and demonstrate the effectiveness of solutions in 140 existing cases, further detail process understanding in 14 individual case studies, and upscale this knowledge together with stakeholders by co-designing sponge strategies on landscape scale. We bring individual solutions and strategies for upscaling closer to the market by providing realistic evaluations of their effectiveness under different hydrometeorological extreme events in current conditions and future scenarios. We provide stakeholders with methods to map opportunities and self-assess the potential for increasing sponge functioning of groundwater, soils and surface water systems within the local context, taking into account climate, geology, topography, soil characteristics and land use. The wide variety of sponge measures and strategies provided by the 14 case studies enables assessments of their primary functioning, co-benefits and potential trade-offs, and suitable governance and policy environments for implementation. Using validation data from case studies, SpongeScapes improves state-of-the-art, open source (geo-)hydrological modelling tools and enhances the quantification of sponge strategy impact assessments linking detailed process understanding to landscape scale evaluations. In the case studies we will collaborate with various public and private stakeholders directly impacted by, or involved in, changes relating to improving sponge functioning at the landscape scale. Stakeholders include local decision-makers and community groups, who are directly affected by changes related to sponge functioning on the landscape scale.
SpongeScapes has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement n°101112738 and from the UK Research and Innovation/HM Government.