International Days on Climate Change, Reforestation and Fog Collection

The action’s objective is to give an international visibility to Life Nieblas by organizing an "international days on climate change, reforestation and fog collection". This forum called ECOISLAS, took place in February 2023 and has attracted international attention as well as serving as a platform for other European projects to present their findings in terms of reforestation, technology implementation in the environmental sector as well as in tackling desertification and climate change. During the two days forum, a number of activities and seminars took place, where members of the project presented results yield at Life-Nieblas.

Due to its ecological and natural value, The Canary Islands is a perfect natural ‘lab’ where habitat recovery and ecological improvement projects are taking place. Gran Canaria Council has taken the initiative in promoting a common sharing hub involving sustainable development and environmental policies. Therefore, ECOISLAS seeks to encourage professionals and businesses from the environmental, sustainability, energy, water and natural resources industries to engage in the sharing of experiences and knowledge at an international level.

This summit engaged conferences, workshops, networking spaces, meeting hubs, posters presentations and so on. The opportunities for everyone to get involved in environmental development conversations from a research, private or public development perspective were widely varied.

A particular characteristic at ECOISLAS was its exclusive showroom for European Environmental projects (i.e. European Commissions’ LIFE programme projects, Interreg, Horizon, etc) promoted by LIFE NIEBLAS project www.lifenieblas.com . This networking space was meant to generate discussions, synergies and collaborations among projects from different nature and disciplines.

Initially, this event was to take place in October 2022. However, the insufficient data collection period owed to the multiple delays suffered during the COVID pandemic and its planned actions at Life Nieblas, resulted in the delay of this event. Eventually, ECOISLAS was held on February 2^nd and 3^rd 2023, at Infecar in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

ECOISLAS focused primarily on global climate change mitigation, with the aim of bringing together as many international parties as possible to discuss and share new ideas promoting measures for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly society, with a special focus on island regions. Life Nieblas worked along Cabildo de GC to organize a larger event than originally planned in order to make a greater impact and bring together more professionals.

Life Nieblas promoted an exclusive space for the exhibition and presentation of European environmental projects (LIFE Program, Interreg, Horizon, etc.). Throughout the forum, panels and stands showcased several environmental projects’ work, products, technology and services.

The event featured four keynote lectures by international experts, including Professor Maqueda of circular and regenerative economics in Harvard University, Bernard Feltz a biologist and philosopher in the Catholic University of Leuven, Leen Gorissen biologist specialized in regenerative ecology, design and bio inspired innovation, and Christian Felber creator of the theory of the “Common Good”.

In addition, four different spaces run parallel sessions during the event. Each area included talks, round tables and case studies, with the participation of 74 speakers from 7 different countries, on different themes:

- Circular Economy and Blue Economy

- Energy, water and mobility

- Adaptation to climate change

- Regenerative Tourism

Led by Life Nieblas, working groups from other European projects were formed during the event. The aim of this action was to create synergies with innovative initiatives that are developed under European fund schemes (Interreg, LIFE, H2020, etc.) to create transnational networks that encourage the implementation of initiatives, pilot projects, etc. During the two days of the event, B2B meetings between speakers and other participants took place, which were organized through a platform called B2match.

This event was a real success for Life Nieblas as 700 individuals attended the event. Hundreds of students and professionals could learn more about the restoration efforts as well as the use of sustainable water resources the Life Nieblas is working on while minimizing the impact of climate change effects. Life Nieblas encouraged conversations and engaged in discussions among all visitors. Furthermore, many people signed up to receive our quarterly newsletter.

During the conference made by Life Nieblas on Thursday (2^nd Feb), main objectives, different areas of development and reforestation, and the characteristics of the different techniques and technologies used (FWC, i-FWC, FWC-volumetric, Cocoons, traditional and AFDS) were presented.

ECOISLAS was an important event for Life Nieblas, providing a space to promote their actions, connect with international partners and create transnational networks. With hundreds of participants attending and engaging in discussions about climate change, reforestation, and fog collection, the event has created new initiatives in sustainable development.