Sintra, Portugal
City population: 366470
Duration: 2017 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature, Other
Last updated: October 2021

In 2017, under a bigger project, the municipality of Sintra started the work for the rehabilitation of an area that included beaches and rivers, such as the Mata river. The NBS solves a problem of accumulation of water and sludge that was unsolved, through the recovery and cleaning of Ribeira da Mata (small river/brook), planting trees and promotion of an improvement in water quality and sand on the beach. (1)

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Blue infrastructure
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
  • Coastlines

Key challenges

  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Improvements to water quality
  • Coastal resilience and marine protection (SDG 14)
  • Coastal protection / hazard mitigation
  • Environmental quality
  • Waste management
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education

Focus

Coastal landscape management or protection, Improved governance of green or blue areas

Project objectives

1)To promote an improvement in the water and sand of the beach, enabling the award of the blue flag to this beach (awarded annually by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE)). 2)To recover and clean the Ribeira da Mata. 3)Formation of a visual curtain to minimise the negative visual impacts of a nearby WWTP, through the planting of trees. (ref.1)

Implementation activities

The SMAS of Sintra (water company) are carrying out rehabilitation works of the Magoito ETAR (WWTP), aiming to equip this treatment station with mechanisms for reuse of water courses, which run from an accumulation of other watercourses in the rainy season. Equip the treatment plant with mechanisms to reuse water courses and to recover and clean the Ribeira da Mata and the formation of a visual curtain to the WWTP minimizing the visual impacts, through the planting of trees. (ref.1)

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Young people and children

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality
  • Public sector institution

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Contracting Entity: SMAS of Sintra (Portuguese water company). Contracted Entity: Ambiágua - Gestão de Equipamentos de Águas, S.A. (ref.4)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Yes (PO SEUR: Operational Program Sustainability and Efficiency in the Use of Resources, created through the Execution Decision of the European Commission 2014. )
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (Strategic Plan for Water Supply and Sanitation of Wastewater (ref.2))
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (Proposal No. 486-P / 2015 - To approve the opening of the public tender procedure limited by prior qualification 04EL / 2015, regarding the Rehabilitation contract for the Magoito WWTP, under the terms of the proposal. (ref.6))

Financing

Total cost

€500,000 - €2,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • EU funds
  • Public national budget
  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget
  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Water management and blue areas
  • Improved water quality
  • Enhanced protection and restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Unknown

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, No impacts reported

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

Yes

References

(1) Câmara Munic. Sintra (2017) Reabilitação da ETAR do Magoito em curso Available at Source link (Accessed 22-6-2020).

(2) Câmara Municipal de Sintra (2014), TEMA 9 – Infraestruturas: Relatório de Caracterização e Diagnóstico do Concelho de Sintra, Available at Source link (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(3) GeoAlgar (2015), Reabilitação de ETAR´s no Concelho de Sintra, Available at Source link (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(4) POSEUR (2016), Reabilitação da ETAR do Magoito, Available at Source link (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(5) Henriques, C. (2009), Reabilitação da ETAR do Magoito Recorrendo a Reactores Biológicos por Membranas. Dissertation / Project to obtain the Master's Degree in: Civil Engineering, Available at Source link (Accessed 23-6-2020)

(6) Síntese da 39ª Reunião Ordinária e Pública da Câmara Municipal de Sintra (Website not available in 2020)