Technical Conference of the European Green Gap project takes place at the Landscape Laboratory

On 6 and 7 February, Laboratório da Paisagem will host the ‘Technical Sessions – Local Strategies for Green Infrastructure Planning in Galicia and Northern Portugal’ of the Green Gap project, which brings together 11 Portuguese and Spanish partners.

On the first day, the event will feature a number of expert presentations and round tables, with Green Infrastructure being the main focus.

Frederico Meireles, from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, and Pedro Galaza Martínez, from the Galician School of Landscape, will give keynote speeches. There will also be two round tables on Green Infrastructure as a tool for promoting ecosystem services, as well as on implementation, maintenance and management, which will bring together various experts from different partners. The session, which will be opened by the Mayor of Guimarães, Domingos Bragança, will close with a talk on how nature is transformed into health, with the participation of Pedro Morgado, a lecturer at the University of Minho and a doctor, and the presentation of the latest publication from the Landscape Laboratory, the ‘Guide to the 50 Trees of Guimarães’.

The following day, 7 February, participants will visit the Guimarães Biocultural Corridor, an example of how to design and create greener cities for the future. The corridor, incorporated into the urban area of Guimarães, represents a harmonious connection between Penha Mountain and the Historic Centre, along the Penha Biodiversity Route and the City Park, linking historical and cultural elements with the natural heritage, and seeking to contribute to a more resilient and sustainable city.

Green Gap
The Green Gap project, funded by Interreg POCTEP (2021-2027), operates in the cross-border region of Galicia and Northern Portugal, including, among other actions, a total of seven Green Infrastructure pilot projects as demonstration practices. It also aims – on a local scale – to protect, conserve and enhance nature and the elements that make up the Green Infrastructure in the cross-border area, promoting its planning, contributing to increasing biodiversity and enhancing natural ecosystems, the environment and ecosystem services.

The Landscape Laboratory and the Municipality of Guimarães are partners in the project, working with the Institute for Territorial Studies, the University of A Coruña, Deputacíon de Ourense, the Municipality of Pontevedra, Fundacíon CEER, the University of Minho, the Municipality of Paredes de Coura, the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests and the Portuguese Environment Agency.