Danube Living Labs Pilot application Potelu Living Lab Romania

Along the Danube and in the Danube Delta using nature based solutions for floods and drought management is a set objective of ICPDR and national management plans but at the same time, for many years, an open subject for debate as regards practical implementation.
Technology validated in lab.
Basic technological components are integrated to establish that they will work together. This is relatively “low fidelity” compared with the eventual system. Examples include integration of “ad hoc” hardware in the laboratory.
While the Living Lab concept is applied at international level in many sectors, their role in facilitating innovation in the water sector needs more practical exercise especially at small scale tackling water challenges at the “grass roots”. The current initiative aims to provide evidence and guidance to support water related living labs initiatives making a step forward from TRL 7 towards TRL 9.

How does it work?

The Potelu Living Lab is focused on the idea to put the local community in the driver seat for increased capacity to transform local challenges into opportunities. Specifically this involves to partner between different stakeholders for developing local capacity to identify and manage solutions to mitigate climate extreme events and increase resilience of population, environment and economic activities and at the same time to design and implement those solutions that also directly impact on local development and restore the attractiveness of the region for different population categories. The combination of water related risk mitigation actions which also build on economic opportunities will be at the core of the Potelu Living Lab approach.

January, 2019
TRL updated from 7 to 4 based on BRIGAID selection assessment by Sergio Contreras