description
Monelos River Revival is a project developed from cartoLAB (Cartographic Engineering Laboratory) within the ETS of Engineering of Roads Channels and Ports of the University of A Coruña and whose protagonist is the Monelos River of the city of A Coruña.
Despite being for centuries a source of life for the city of A Coruña, currently the Monelos River is mostly underground.
With the change of paradigm, it is intended to discover and revive it and for this purpose it is intended to have citizenship aproval.
It is intended to know the River, its origins, history, transformations and current status, to reflect and design a proposal to restore the most significant sections, within the context of fostering green infrastructure promoted by European institutions, identifying and valuing the ecosystemic services provided by the river.
background
In 2015, CartloLAB has the opportunity to collaborate in the production of the documentary film, Esquece Monelos by director Ángeles Huerta. From this collaboration, the Final Master's Research Project is obtained, which is called Territorial Analysis of Urban Transformations of the Monelos River.
The first results create the desire and the need to advance in this work. This year, 2019, the Monelos River Revival Project arises, which will allow us to develop tasks that will enforce, in a large part, our ambition to make a dream come true: Return to the city of A Coruña and the citizenship of the River that many long for.
founding
This project has a grant from the Alcoa Foundation.
mission
address local needs in a sustainable way
strategy
support programs that create sustainable value for the communities where Alcoa operates. Two main areas:
- Climate Change Prevention
- Restoration and preservation of biodiversity
objectives
This research work aims, and it's its main objective, to define the necessary methodologies to propose an integral recovery of the basin of the Monelos river. From the first moment it is kept in mind that a complete re-naturalization will be practically impossible, but we intend to identify specific sections where efficient restoration actions can be proposed, within the framework of the current urban, environmental and water regulations.
An important aspect of the work will be to recover the social interest of the Monelos River by the citizens of different agents of the city. To do this, it is planned to develop participatory activities for the collection of geo-localized stories and data on the basin's environment through the EMAPIC web service to georeference information through participatory processes.
The use of geolocalized surveys through the EMAPIC tool, will allow obtaining information to help the approach of solutions in the river that are feasible and accepted by the citizens. Within these complementary activities, it is also planned to organize outreach events whose goal is to interact with other agents, citizens in general and experts in different fields.
methodology
This project consists of two main parts:
- A research work
- An informative and participatory process
Target audiences
- Scientific community: develop a line of action on the Monelos River
- Public in general ('group of citizens and interest groups'): promote the growth of community awareness on the Monelos river to achieve community commitment
Specific analysis
To achieve this general objective, three specific analysis are marked:
Integral Characterization of the river
Current situation and reference status.
- Knowledge of the history of the Monelos River and the social context in which its transformation has been developed.
- Definition of the current layout of the Monelos River and its tributaries
Modeling of the river
Numerical simulation of the river channel for different scenarios.
Proposals of action
Approach of different action alternatives for the improvement of the river basin of the Monelos river, from a global point of view and taking into account all the factors identified in the investigation.
team
Dr. Alberto Varela García
Director of Monelos River Revival
Professor of Cartographic, Geodetic and Photogrammetric Engineering of the UDC. Advanced Visualization and Cartography Group. Doctor in Civil Engineering. Director of Cartographic Engineering Laboratory (cartoLab).
Amal Nnechachi Bounous
Research Technician of Monelos River Revival
Civil Engineer. Cartographic Engineering Laboratory (cartoLab).
Daniel Veira Ferrín
Documentary and communication manager
Journalist. Cartographic Engineering Laboratory (cartoLab).
Adrián Eirís Torres
Web designer
Cartographic Engineering Laboratory (cartoLab).
