Unique facilities
Urban River Lab (URL)
The Urban River Lab is an outdoor experimental laboratory dedicated to the study of highly modified rivers in order to develop innovative strategies and techniques for their management.
In the current context of global change, human activity is one of the main causes of the degradation of the ecological status of rivers. Urban River Lab (URL) is an open-air laboratory that is one of a kind in Europe, born out of the need to understand the multiple effects of human pressures on rivers.
Through the research carried out, the aim is to generate new knowledge in order to better understand the functioning of rivers in the current changing environment. The ultimate goal is to develop new tools and strategies to improve the quality and management of heavily modified rivers.
To achieve this, we have a multidisciplinary team of professionals from the field of environmental management and restoration, wastewater treatment and scientific research, enabling us to address current issues and challenges from multiple perspectives.
The URL consists of 15 channels and 12 floodplain lagoons designed for experimental practice, fed by treated water from the effluent of a wastewater treatment plant. The main objective of the URL is to develop new tools and strategies to improve the quality and management of rivers under high human pressure.
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