The project, supported for three years with an amount of EUR 2 million, will build a European digital campus on the issue of water. This will include, among other things, four virtual hubs (centers) of augmented reality within Europe, in which information will converge, which scientists will then move on. “Essentially, water-focused centers of excellence will be created. The centers will also include a 3D digital water laboratory. Information will be shared both between partners and target groups. It will also be possible to stream and virtually transmit practical measurements, water analyzes or teaching procedures within Europe,” said Milada Šťastná, head of the project team from the MENDELU Faculty of AgriSciences.
According to her, water management is a key challenge in times of climate change. The researchers will create recommendations for specific situations and communicate information to different target groups, which are policy makers, industry representatives, academics/scientists and citizens. “Currently, this information is mainly dealt with by scientists and experts for a specific sector, but there is a lack of connection with practice, education and communication with citizens,” said Šťastná.
The goal is to get the issue of effective water management into the strategies, policies and recommendations of the crisis management of the state and into the crisis management of companies. “Large companies must realize that water is a risky (limited) resource and can be purposefully regulated and limited in a critical period of drought, for example for industrial cooling, because providing water to residents has a higher priority,” said Šťastná, adding that academics should support these decisions and priorities with scientific facts.
“We need a closed cycle of information sharing. An ordinary citizen should understand why the state has taken specific measures, that something will change in the normal course of action. For example, it is obvious that the limitation of production, where even temporary measures would be taken, will have an impact on employees, and it will be necessary to prepare for these situations,” said Šťastná.
A total of 15 institutions from 11 countries are involved in the project in the European HORIZON program. The topic is coordinated by scientists from Malta, which suffers from a long-term drought. It ranks first in the ranking of European countries and in the top ten in the world among the countries most affected by drought.
Contact for more information: prof. Dr. Ing. Milada Šťastná, phone: +420 606 580 412, milada.stastna@mendelu.cz, head of the Department of Applied and Landscape Ecology at Faculty of AgriSciences MENDELU