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This week, Salamanca is hosting an international meeting at which leading national and European experts in the environment sector will discuss how cities and, in particular, those listed as World Heritage Sites, can develop strategies to meet the challenges of climate change. The International Spanish Centre of the University of Salamanca hosts the LIFE Vía de la Plata Congress, a project financed by European funds to create a green corridor on the ancient Roman road that will set an example to other cities.

A number of local authorities attended the opening of the congress and other activities, including the Councillor for the Environment, María José Coca, who stressed at the opening of the congress that the Town Council is leading a comprehensive transformation of the town, making it even more liveable, sustainable and healthy, so that it can face the future with greater confidence and attract new investments related to the green economy. 

During the congress, different talks, workshops and demonstrations of sustainability actions are taking place. The BISITE Research Group has contributed with a presentation on "LIFE Vía de la Plata: Machine Learning and climate zones", given by our colleagues Javier Parra and Román Andrés, architect from Salamanca Town Council and member of the LIFE Vía de la Plata project.

Javier Parra explained BISITE Group's contribution in terms of technology, through Ecosystem Services' monitoring and control stations, based on sensors, IoT, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. All data is collected and analysed by an intelligent platform and then processed to determine the best actions in accordance with the project objectives. Monthly reports on the implementation of the network of MES stations are produced. 

For his part, Román Andrés, commented on the importance of selecting the right data for artificial intelligence and machine learning to work. LIFE Vía de la Plata has built its own system to measure and evaluate the impact of green infrastructure on climate change adaptation in cities. In the surface temperature map of Salamanca, the areas in blue are those with the lowest temperatures and belong to the main green areas in the town. 

The LIFE Vía de la Plata Congress continues today and will end tomorrow, 10 November. The congress events can be followed online or in person. Click here to learn more about the event.

About LIFE Vía de la Plata 

LIFE Vía de la Plata (LIFE19 CCA/ES/001188), is a pilot project chosen by the European Commission in its 2019 call of the climate change programme that aims to create a new green infrastructure corridor through the 6.9 kilometres of the route of the ancient Roman road in the municipality of Salamanca. 

With an investment of over 2.8 million euros, of which Europe will subsidise slightly more than 1.4 million euros, the initiative encompasses several key elements, which combine to pioneer sustainable development in an urban area for the first time: adaptation to climate change, implementation of green infrastructure in a World Heritage town, recovery of ecosystem services, machine learning, and citizen involvement and participation.

Until the end of 2023, the project will carry out 41 actions with nature-based solutions in different aspects related to flora, fauna, water, citizenship, culture and heritage. This whole process will be developed in the 6 action areas of the project, ranging from the Corona de Secano in the northern area, through the urban areas of the municipality (urban expansion and historic area) to the connection with the Tormes, the Zurguén watercourse or the scrubland area in the south of the town, connected to the pastureland. These actions can be viewed on the project website www.lifeviadelaplata.com.

This project is promoted by the Municipal Housing and Urban Planning Board (PMVU) of Salamanca and has the Salamanca Town Council, the BISITE Group from USAL and the UNESCO Chair of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) as partners.