The DREAM Cluster organized virtually two webinars: the study visit on the 16th of June 2021 and the exchange of experiences on the 17th of June 2021. The first event was an opportunity to highlight the good practices adopted by the actors in Centre-Val de Loire Region and thus the diversity of initiatives and actors working for a smarter water management.
The discussions will support with designing the operational action plans.
On the 16th of June, 6 good practices from the Centre-Val de Loire Region were presented by French speakers promoting the collaboration within several projects and initiatives.
At the end of these discussions, action plans will then emerge which will include in particular concrete actions and proposals on how to include them in the policies addressed by the project.
Among the good practices presented, the project JUNON “Digital Twins of the plain observatory” has been highlighted by its project manager. The ambition of this unique project in the Centre-Val de Loire Region is to create a center of digital research for continental environments (agricultural, urban, forestry and fluvial) and, regarding water, to develop a water digital twins.
Started in June 2021, some twenty regional facilities are involved with 4 companies et 5 research organisms. Funded by different regional, national and European financing tools (CPER, ARD, FEDER), the project aims to:
▪ Improve the management of regional natural resources
▪ Better predict to help the harmonious and sustainable development of our territory
▪ Stimulate collaboration and sharing to create new applications
The covered area represents the northern part of the Centre-Val de Loire Region (more than 20 000 Km2), including 4 urban zones: Orléans, Blois, Chartres and Tours and several already existing network and observatory stations.
The implementation of a such observatory has been decided as the Region has many assets in terms of environmental resources:
▪ The Beauce water table is one of the biggest European ground water table
▪ The Sologne Natura 2000 zone is the biggest site of community importance for wetland and forest in Europe
▪ Val de Loire listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site
▪ The Orléans forest is the biggest state forest of the metropolitan territory, it is also the second French forest massif
▪ The Beauce agricultural plain is the first grain belt in Europe
The project will develop a battery of innovative services for the Region:
Provision and interpretation of Data
• Monitoring natural resources
• Simulation of scenarios
• Understanding complex processes
Skills transfer
• Application development
• Twins development
• Metrological expertise
• Access to natural and numerical test zone (sand box)
Open Science
• Free access to public data
• Dissemination of knowledge
