PLANAPP - Centre for Planning and Evaluation of Public Policies published two policy briefs, developed in partnership with CHANGE, dedicated to soil regeneration and water governance.
These documents were prepared in the context of the Soil and Water 2030 project, funded by PLANAPP and developed in collaboration with CHANGE, which promoted the development of a participatory approach to improve governance in water management as well as climate change adaptation strategies for soil in mainland Portugal.
The policy briefs are the result of a joint work between science, public administration and civil society, with the aim of anticipating strategies that promote the sustainability of natural resources.
The policy brief on soil, coordinated by Professor Teresa Pinto Correia, presents proposals to regenerate agricultural and agroforestry soils, with a pilot application in Central Alentejo. The document recommends strengthening soil literacy, setting up monitoring systems and revising public policy instruments, in line with the future European Soil Monitoring Law. This policy brief underlines the importance of ensuring soil health as a basis for agri-food systems resilience and adaptation to climate change.
The policy brief on water, coordinated by Professor Rui Ferreira dos Santos, proposes a structural reform of water governance in Portugal. Among its recommendations, the creation of a National Water Authority, the strengthening of the River Basin District Administrations, the modernization of monitoring systems and the revision of the economic and financial regime of water resources stand out. The document advocates a more integrated, efficient and fair approach, capable of responding to the growing challenges of water scarcity and the management of aquatic ecosystems.
The Soil and Water 2030 project, developed by CHANGE in partnership with PLANAPP, followed a methodology of co-creative and participatory work, involving multiple actors of the quadruple helix, demonstrating that science can and should be an instrument of informed governance.
More than diagnoses, the two policy briefs now published reflect a strategic vision for the future of soil and water management in Portugal, proposing concrete and reasoned measures that reinforce the role of scientific knowledge in the construction of public policies for sustainability.