This section aims to introduce each beneficiary, explain their sector, and describe their work within the project’s framework. Today it is the turn of Pedro Tomás Martín de la Vega and María Tosina, from Promedio.
What is Promedio?
Promedio is the Consortium for Environmental Services Management of the Provincial Council of Badajoz. The main purpose of the consortium is the management of the urban water and waste cycle in municipalities in the province of Badajoz. The aims of the consortium also include the integration of R+D+i as a mechanism for improving the provision of services.
How long have you been working at Promedio and what is your background and role in the institution?
Pedro Tomás Martín de la Vega Manzano, Head of R&D&I Unit: My career at Promedio began as head of the R&D&I Laboratory that Promedio set up in 2015. This laboratory had a dual purpose: on the one hand, to integrate a team of doctors and researchers with the capacity to provide the consortium with qualified and competent personnel for research projects, while on the other hand, to provide analytical services to the infrastructure managed by the consortium, becoming the first laboratory to be accredited to the UNE EN ISO 10725 standard for compliance with the monitoring of discharge authorisations in Extremadura in 2018. From there, Promedio began to participate in regional, national, and European research projects, so that currently the co-financed budget for research and innovation exceeds 20 million euros.
María Tosina Fernández, Medium Laboratory Technician: My first contact with Promedio was as part of my academic training, between 2022 and 2023, during which I did university and higher education internships in the R&D&I laboratory. At the end of 2024 I started working at Promedio as a laboratory technician in the SOLLAGUA project, to which I am currently fully dedicated.
What do you like about your work?
Pedro: The most attractive aspect of R&D&I work is managing to bring research and innovation to the practical case, evaluating improvements in urban cycle management services, and positioning the province of Badajoz as a benchmark in the application of research to rural environments.
María: In my opinion, the most interesting thing about working in research is problem solving and, in the same sense, teamwork and the feeling that each person can contribute something to achieve a common good.
Is this your first EU project?
Pedro: No. Transnational projects are intriguing because of the exchange of experiences, the discussion of results with partners whose reality is different, and the evaluation of improvements introduced by the projects in other territories. Promedio finds it appealing to have an open research channel applied to its service provision.
María: In my case, it is the first time I have participated in a European project. Undoubtedly, the most surprising and interesting thing has been to discover how different the realities can be in countries that, in principle, we consider very similar due to their geographical and cultural proximity. I believe that the debates and exchanges of opinions that arise from these differences are enormously enriching, not only for the project itself, but also for the people involved in it.
What is the appeal of SOLLAGUA to Promedio?
Promedio joined the SOLLAGUA project partnership because of its solid structure. The set of beneficiaries includes all stakeholders in the value chain for water reuse. Promedio also responded to the need to integrate a public water manager for the Spanish part, having a counterpart beneficiary in both Portugal and France, which allowed Promedio to evaluate and compare experiences and results with counterparts in the SUDOE area. SOLLAGUA is special for Promedio because of the structure of the consortium itself, which encompasses very different realities in the field of reuse but is approached from a joint perspective, allowing, in turn, the generation of Living Labs orientated to reuse, which will enrich the participation of all stakeholders in the value chain of wastewater reuse.
What is the Promedio’s mission in the SOLLAGUA project?
Promedio, in the framework of SOLLAGUA, is responsible for assessing the needs of stakeholders in the value chain of wastewater reuse in rural environments, given its proximity to the water sector. It will also set up a pilot demonstrator at a real wastewater treatment plant to see how nature-based solutions can effectively and sustainably be used for wastewater reuse in a rural area facing tough climate conditions.
Currently, what are you engaged in?
Currently, the focus of the work is on defining the technology to be applied in the pilot demonstrator on the Spanish side, providing it with a flexible hydraulic configuration to test different management strategies, and defining monitoring parameters based on the current regulatory changes related to urban wastewater and reused water treatment.
What are the main challenges you are currently facing?
The main challenge is to make wastewater reuse in rural settings through the application of nature-based solutions more widespread. Currently, the percentage of reused water is very low, especially in inland regions, due to lack of knowledge, lack of clear governance, or simply for economic reasons. This fact, together with the severe climate crisis, has awakened the need to increase water uses. However, there remains a significant amount of work to be done.
What are the key findings to date?
To date, the reuse needs of all the stakeholders in the SUDOE area have been analysed, showing very significant conclusions, since there are clear differences between the needs detected in the French part and those detected in the Spanish and Portuguese parts. For example, for Spain and Portugal, the main source of water identified for reuse was the water leaving the wastewater treatment plants, whereas in the French case, the source of water identified was rainwater collection.
What do you think SOLLAGUA’s contribution will be after the end of the project in scientific, social and economic terms?
Once the project is completed, from a social, economic, and scientific point of view, there will be three Living Labs, understood as spaces for exchange orientated towards the reuse of water. In this way, the citizens of the SUDOE area will be provided with places where they can share economic doubts, scientific advances, and even social concerns. Likewise, the results of the demonstrators implemented in the different regions will make it possible to share data on the quality of reused water, evaluate the performance of nature-based solutions applied in different environments, and analyse both the life cycle of these technologies and their environmental footprint.
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