The pioneering role of NAWAMED in contributing to the diffusion of nature-based solutions in urban contexts
On May 19, the insert "PIANETA 2021" of the Corriere della Sera, one of the leading Italian newspapers, published an article on green walls and on the innovative role of NAWAMED in contributing to the diffusion of Nature-Based Solutions in urban contexts - highlighting the pioneering role of Iridra, the technical partner, in adapting these solutions for the treatment/reuse of greywater.
The article results from the synergy between the ENI CBC MED programme and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) at the World Water Day 2021. Thanks to that, the media started to pay more attention to the solutions proposed by NAWAMED and their innovative character. Indeed, Giuseppe Aquaro's article emphases the differences with other Italian experiences of green walls, which are not adapted to be a contemporary "decentralised greywater treatment". The green wall in Ferla, Sicily, one of the NAWAMED pilot plants, will be the first one of this kind in Italy.
A tree absorbs more CO2 than a plant. But the strength of a leaf is often underestimated. It could be the mantra of Iridra, a company from Florence involved in constructed wetlands for water treatment for more than thirty years and one of the first to go vertically. From the roofs of buildings to the "green walls", unknown until fifteen years ago, today finally co-stars the Nature-Based Solutions.
In interviewing Fabio Masi (technical director of Iridra), the journalist reports on the environmental, economic and social benefits of installing a green wall for treating greywater, which can be reused in flushing toilets, currently accounting for some 30% of our water bills, or in garden irrigation.
The words of Michelangelo Giansiracusa, mayor of Ferla, clarify the impacts of the pilot plant that NAWAMED is about to build:
this green wall in the courtyard of the school Valle dell'Anapo will allow us to save 260 cubic meters of drinking water per year.
The plant, 56 thousand euros, results from the collaboration between the NAWAMED partners, specifically between the Euro Mediterranean Center for Sustainable Development (Svimed) and Iridra.
We would like to replicate it throughout the country
The NAWAMED team joins the mayor of Ferla enthusiasm for replicating nature-based solutions in all countries, boosting the use of non-conventional water at the urban level!
Read the full article here (in Italian language)