EIA Spring Irrigation Forum – April 19, 2024

The EIA spring Irrigation Forum was held online on Friday 19 April 2024 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm CET. 51 persons from Europe, Turkey, India attended the forum. 

The forum started with an introduction from the EIA President, Moshi Berenstein. He began with the Taxonomy project : after many months of work, with the engagement of EIA experts, on December 15, 2023, the EIA has finalized the Position Paper “Sustainable Irrigation – Focus on the framework of the EU Taxonomy”. Within this paper, the EIA officially submitted the identified economic activities and technical criteria drafted to measure the potential contribution of the irrigation sector to the environmental objectives defined by the EU Taxonomy. We are eagerly awaiting the European Commission’s response.

Then, he went on the EIA applications of European projects under the climate priority/ HORIZON-Europe Innovation Actions: The first application was submitted on February 2024 under the name JOICE – Joint Optimization of Irrigation and Control of Erosion. The second project submitted to the same call under the name “Newrrigation” and is proposing a promising departure from conventional approaches to more of a collaborative partnership, and socioeconomic evaluations by developing efficient management of water resources.

Finally, he talk about the changes in Secretariat and new services to EIA members by Aliénor. Alienor is a Brussels-based policy and communication agency experts in EU’s policy decisions, providing tailor made solutions, lobbying, experts in many areas which are relevant to the progression of the association.   

Then, Fleur Martin, the EIA communication officer, welcomed the 3 members who joined the association since our latest forum end of January : Valley, Gerovit and Padula.

Then, our Guest Speaker Abdelkader Bensaoud form Hydrasol gave a presentation about  “Rainwater harvesting : increasing the cooling power of urban trees to combat urban heat islands “. This time, we looked at the presence of vegetation in the city, in particular trees, and their refreshing power. Hydrasol has conducted an experiment on sites in the Lyon metropolitan area, in France, to assess the effects of water inputs on the cooling power of trees during periods of high heat. The aim is to collect rainwater, make it available to mature trees and monitor their hydric performance.

Finally, we closed the forum with the Innovation & Technology session ; one of our member,  Xavier Eftimakis, from Challenge Agriculture gave a presentation about : « Irrigation management : recent evolution of tensiometry, to face climate change. Presentation and exemples”. He focused on a drip installation in Perpignan, a French region particularly sensitive to drought.

The presentations were followed by rich Q & A sessions, with a high level of interest from participants.

Watch the recording of the forum :

(1) European Irrigation Association – YouTube

Join the EIA as member :

Become a member – EIA (irrigationeurope.eu)