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/ LIFE14 ENV/GR/001007 LIFECORINTHIAN /
SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT (in English)
The main objective is to develop and provide decision supporting tool needed for the impact of water
pollution as well as climate change in closed aquatic ecosystems and infrastructure.
The management of water pollution as well as the burden of climate change in a closed marine aquatic
system has never been considered again in the past. Closed marine aquatic systems are more vulnerable in
pollution as well as climate change. In addition, our case study, Corinthian Gulf is one of the most
important closed marine ecosystems in Greece and one of the most important in Europe.
Global climate is defined as the sum of anthropogenic activities associated with changes that directly or
indirectly affect the quantity and quality of water, affecting the sustainable management of water
resources at the closed marine aquatic ecosystem. Future scenarios that aim to meet both climate and
anthropogenic effects in the medium and long term. The project seeks to provide a means for adapting
effectively to global changes taking place and to ensure sufficient quantity and quality of future water
resources.
In general the program aims to:
The development of an online platform decision supporting tool containing a methodology for the
medium and long-term modeling of water resources at the closed marine ecosystem, considering pollution
scenarios and future climate change scenarios, present and future land use and water consumption, based
on socio-economic development.
The development of a system capable of modeling to predict the development of water resources at the
river basin level, linking the input data, models and data output, and allows the user to visualize and
analyze the results.
To implement the methodology and the tool will be developed in a study of this particular situation: the
area of the Corinthian Gulf, which is heavily influenced by human activities of the 13 municipalities
include this Gulf.
To assess the impact of pollution as well as global change on water resources and related infrastructure in
the Corinthian Gulf and to determine the vulnerability of various sectors (e.g tourism, fishing) in this area.
To propose to the main end-user and the neighbouring municipalities, the appropriate adaptation measures
to the Corinthian Gulf, based on the evaluation of economic and environmental costs and benefits.
To disseminate the tool and the project results to the public of the 13 municipalities and have an effect in
new proposals concerning the Corinthian Gulf
Actions and means involved
To reach its objectives, the project will utilize established existing possibilities and opportunities supplied
by all bodies participating in the project:
A. University facilities (infrastructure and specialized research personel) of 4 different highly specialized
research groups of University of Patras:
Laboratory of Atmospherics Physics, which will be involved in the evaluation and collection of the air
quality data as well as the models for climate change).
Environmental Engineering Laboratory which will be involved in the collection of chemical data on
Corinthian Gulf and the evaluation of this chemical pollution,
Geology Sediment Laboratory which will be involved in the collection and evaluation of sediment data
and the
Environmental Microbiology, Department of Public Health which will be involved in the evaluation of
microbiological data as well as the risk assessment models already developed in the lab.
b. Online platform tool and large data analysis tools developed by GRNET. Also the data collected from
the large network of GRNET.
c. Dissemination activities established through the established network of the two non commercial
companies. The one (Prasinomple) is specialized in dissemination activities in student population and the
other (EMVIO) has a strong network on municipalities and public.
d. Established network of SPOAK. The network of SPOAK with the 13 municipalities could be used as
the mechanism through which the project results could easily be transferred to the public. This connection
is already strong as the SPOAK members are elected representatives of all municipalities surrounding
Corinthiakos Gulf
e. Finally, the two other partners (ADEP and Municipality of Corinthus) belong to the largest
municipalities of the area and especially in the two outer limits of the Corinthian Gulf. ADEP is in Patras,
the largest city in the area with a strong network of connections with several other public and commercial
bodies. Their websites will be used for the purpose of the project.
Expected Results
The project will develop a methodology and a provisional platform tool that allows users to access and
manage the impact of pollution as well as global change on a closed marine aquatic system-the Corinthian
Gulf and report on any changes required in management policy. The modeling system is useful for
municipalities and regions to develop a long-term planning under future climate scenarios, the use of land
and water.
In the program all key stakeholders will be involved in the management of water resources for performing
the following actions for the delivery of the final tool will be:
• Definition of system modeling, including three integrated sub-models covering hydrogeology, water
management and water quality
• Definition of costs, including water resources, system performance, quality of water, the withdrawal of
water and improve the usage rules
• Design of a tool that will use the selected models for the modeling system, including system
architecture, software design and functional
• Programming of system modeling for the integration of various models and processing of available data
• Collection and entered into the system the following data for the basin of the Corinthian Gulf: surveying and geometric data - data of past climate - soil, vegetation and data aquifer - water quality and
usage.
•The calibration of models based on optimization algorithms and validated against historical data
• The definition of future scenarios and analysis of the combination of scenarios that affect the climate,
land use and water use
• Identification of adaptation strategies for impacts on water and the analysis of economic and
environmental costs and benefits.
The modeling system will allow the handling of large amounts of data and the integration of existing
models within a user-modeling platform. The system stores the input and output files in a central database
and allows the comparison of scenarios through graphs, tables and maps. Supports decisions about which
strategies are likely to be more effective in avoiding the cost and impact of events. The project will show
how to combine the results of the simulations with a cost-benefit analysis thus makes it possible to adopt
the most effective strategy in terms of avoiding the costs of drought and financial resources required to
implement them.
The project will highlight the need for long term planning of the use of the Corinthian Gulf scenarios
examined and show future risks.
Coordinator: University of Patras
Partners:
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SPOAK
Municipality of Corinthos
GR-NET
ADEP
Prasino-Mple
EMVIO
Budget: 1.628.394 €