The University and Pamplona City Council implement the service-learning project 'Living Rivers', which combines environmental education and actions to improve water quality.

The University of Navarra and the Pamplona City Council are going to collaborate, through the Service-Learning methodology (ApS), in the development of the RUNA 2025 project, which aims at the renaturalization and protection of biodiversity in river environments. This project is supported by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), in the call for grants for the promotion of actions aimed at the renaturalization and resilience of Spanish cities corresponding to the year 2021 in the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU.

Living Rivers' is the name of the service-learning project, which will involve the participation of more than thirty university students of Environmental Sciences, Biology and Chemistry, and more than a hundred secondary school students. Specifically, the University and the Pamplona City Council will collaborate in two of the eleven actions planned in the RUNA 2025 project: the groundwater control plan, which will be analyzed on the right bank of the Magdalena meander (action B2) and in the development of a protocol for improving the water quality of the Arga, Elorz and Sadar rivers as they pass through Pamplona (action B16).

The necessary work will be carried out with the direct participation of university students, in addition to studies, data analysis, environmental education sessions, awareness-raising, talks and guided tours. Pamplona City Council and the University of Navarra will also collaborate in the organization of a congress for secondary school students on urban biodiversity and in the updating of a publication on the aquatic fauna of the city's rivers.

The collaboration agreement signed by the Mayor of Pamplona, Joseba Asiron Saez, and the Rector of the University of Navarra, María Iraburu Elizalde, is valid for two years and its completion, in December 2025, coincides with the conclusion of the RUNA 2025 project itself. The agreement does not imply any financial obligations of either of the two signatory parties towards the other.

The RUNA 2025 project has obtained 2.7 million euros in the call for grants from the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU. It aims to renaturalize and protect biodiversity in river environments.

"Living Rivers."

The ApS project will be developed under the title "Living Rivers: a comprehensive approach to conservation and environmental education in the rivers Arga, Elorz and Sadar". It represents a pioneering initiative of collaboration between the City Council and the University of Navarra, as a continuation of the framework agreement signed in September 2022 by the consistory with the three universities of the city, which combines environmental education with direct action for the conservation and improvement of water quality. Through the Service-Learning methodology (APS), the participating students put into practice the theoretical knowledge acquired in the Faculty of Sciences through awareness-raising and environmental conservation actions for the improvement of the three rivers of Pamplona.

"Living Rivers" transcends the traditional educational environment, becoming an experiential and participatory learning platform. It not only has an impact on students' environmental knowledge and awareness, but also provides them with practical tools and direct experience in the management and conservation of natural resources. By fostering a more intimate and respectful relationship with the environment, it prepares the younger generation to be proactive stewards of their environment and leaders in the fight against contemporary ecological challenges.

Conference for ESO students and updating of a book on aquatic fauna

The collaboration agreement signed includes a series of specific activities to be carried out in the coming months. The City Council and the University of Navarra will collaborate in the organization of the second edition of the studIAS Congress focused on urban biodiversity and aimed at secondary school students. The first edition was held in 2022 with invasive alien species as the central theme and with the participation of 27 schools and institutes, 120 congress participants and 35 teachers.

In addition, to compile and present the data obtained, "Fauna acuática de los Ríos de Pamplona: diez años después" will be published, an update of the work that the University of Navarra already carried out in 2014 and published by the City Council of Pamplona in its collection on biodiversity. For the preparation of that book, the University of Navarra sampled fish and macroinvertebrates from the Arga, Elorz and Sadar rivers as they pass through Pamplona. From the sampling that will be carried out in the rivers during the development of the "Living Rivers" project, it will be possible to compare the evolution of the river courses over the last decade. The aquatic fauna censuses will be carried out within the framework of the training of the students of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Navarra.

Participatory activities

The agreement includes other activities in which students from the University of Navarra will participate, under the supervision of the professors responsible for the project. Talks and interactive workshops will be organized in schools and institutes, focusing on the quality of the water of Pamplona's rivers and their ecological impact, and explorations of the pollution factors, both anthropogenic and natural, and their effect on the region's rivers will be carried out, all with visual and demonstrative materials to facilitate learning.

Guided tours and field analysis include educational visits to rivers to closely examine the challenges related to water quality, a study of macroinvertebrates and other bioindicators of their ecological quality, the measurement of physical-chemical parameters using multiparameter probes, the application of environmental DNA techniques for the detection of invasive or endangered species, the sampling of freshwater biodiversity and the study of fish populations by electrofishing, or the analysis of emerging contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and pesticides.

Also mentioned are citizen science projects to actively involve students in monitoring water quality, collecting and analyzing samples on a regular basis; or the creation of an online platform for them to upload their findings, encouraging collaboration and the exchange of information on river pollution. It is committed to the development of awareness and sensitization campaigns in the media and social networks to highlight pollution problems and promote sustainable practices or the organization of drawing contests, essay writing and creation of multimedia projects focused on water conservation.

Installation of automatic monitoring equipment

The University of Navarra will designate a team composed of 2 people from the faculty of the School of Sciences to coordinate the PSA project, both internally and with the City of Pamplona. This team may be joined by other faculty from the same or another faculty of the University that has direct participation or through its students in the RUNA 2025 project.

In order to carry out the work related to the two actions of the RUNA 2025 project to be undertaken with this agreement, the installation of automatic monitoring equipment is required, in addition to the pertinent permits. The agreement includes the installation of elements such as mechanical probes, piezometric tubes to extract water samples from the phreatic level, multiparametric probes for the automatic measurement of physical-chemical parameters of the waters of the Arga, Elorz and Sadar rivers or the installation of a wireless network for data transmission, among others.

The Pamplona City Council, for its part, will establish a team also composed of two people and will provide the technical means necessary for the development of the project and, specifically, for the control of physicochemical and biotic parameters to identify pollution and dumping black spots, to expand the current control network and the number of samplings, based on the technical contributions of the project's coordinating team at the University.

The City Council of Pamplona will facilitate the use of the appropriate municipal facilities for the development of the ApS project, if necessary, and will publicize the specific projects to be developed under this agreement, through the municipal website.