Overview

On September 19 – 21, 2023, the final congress of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project will take place at the Royal Botanical Garden (RJB-CSIC), where we will have the opportunity to show the results achieved so far.

The main language of this congress will be Spanish.

During this event, we will be joined by professionals in the field of green infrastructure and the adaptation of buildings and cities to climate change. We will be accompanied by managers of projects and initiatives related to Nature-Based Solutions at European, national (Spain and Portugal), regional and local levels.

The first day of the event will focus on the concept of green cities and will be composed of two interactive sessions in which we will discuss current climate change strategies and the use of Nature-Based Solutions to improve thermal comfort in cities in Spain and Portugal. After lunch, we will visit some Nature-Based Solutions in the city of Madrid.

The second day will focus on specific projects that promote the use of Nature-Based Solutions as an alternative for the adaptation of cities and buildings to climate change, bringing together projects co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme in the first session and other initiatives available in Spain in the second session. On this occasion, we will make a guided visit to the facilities of the Royal Botanical Garden.

To conclude, Madrid City Council, an entity that collaborates in the organisation of this congress, will lead the session “Nature, culture and evolution” in which they will work towards the construction of a community of knowledge and innovation that shares a climate and strategic vision of public and municipal climate policies.

Overview | Registration | Detailed agenda | Speakers | Practical information

Registration

Due to restrictions on the available capacity of the facilities of the Royal Botanical Garden, there will be a limit of 100 participants per day during the first two days of the congress (September 19-20, 2023) and a limit of 45 participants during the third day (September 21). The third day is aimed exclusively at municipal technicians from the Madrid City Council, however, attendance at the introductory talk by Eudald Carbonell (Co-director of the Sierra de Atapuerca excavations and Director General of the Atapuerca Foundation) is permitted. To do so, it will be necessary to indicate it in the corresponding field of the registration form.

To formalise registration, it will be necessary to fill in the form designed for this purpose. Those who are successful in being selected for the congress will be contacted by the organisers of the event. Attendance will not be confirmed until the confirmation e-mail has been received.

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Overview | Registration | Detailed agenda | Speakers | Practical information

Detailed agenda

Tuesday, 19/09/2023 – Green Cities

Wednesday, 20/09/2023 – Projects for the promotion of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)

Thursday, 21/09/2023 – Nature, culture and evolution (Madrid City Council)

Overview | Registration | Detailed agenda | Speakers | Practical information

Speakers

Andrés de las Alas-Pumariño

General Coordinator of the Sustainable Development Unit, Fuenlabrada City Council

Dr. in Sociology (UCM). General Coordinator of the Sustainable City Development Area of Fuenlabrada City Council (Madrid). Manager of European projects. Municipal representative in EUROCIIES.

Carmen Alonso

Doctor of Architecture at the Eduardo Torroja Institute of Construction Sciences (IETcc-CSIC)

Carmen Alonso holds a PhD in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. She works within the CSIC in the field of the environmental performance of buildings and their construction systems, in the research group "Construction systems and habitability in building" which belongs to the Eduardo Torroja Institute of Construction Sciences.
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She has participated in numerous projects and contracts related to the refurbishment of housing and educational buildings. The aim of these projects is to improve comfort conditions, air quality, energy efficiency and sustainability in inhabited spaces. Some relevant projects are: the REFAVIV or Habita_RES projects for the improvement of vulnerable neighbourhoods, the MONITOR network of excellence for the monitoring of energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality, refurbishment with Nature-Based Solutions in the LIFE-MyBuildingisGreen project, or the RadonFLOW and RADONCERO projects for the mitigation of radon inside buildings.
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Rafael Borge

Professor at Technical University of Madrid, UPM – LIFE VEG-GAP project

University Professor in the Department of Industrial Chemical Engineering and the Environment and Coordinator of the research group on Environmental Technologies and Industrial Resources.
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He has been a Visiting Scientist at Harvard University, a Senior consultant for UN Habitat and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the international Healty Polis consortium, as well as a member of the Technical Committee of the Air Quality Commission of the Madrid City Council and the Scientific-Technical Committee on Climate Change of the Madrid Regional Government. His research during the last two decades has been related to the development and application of emission models and numerical simulation of air quality, mainly based on mesoscale photochemical Eulerian models. His activity is currently focused on the investigation of new methods for measuring and modelling air quality and exposure to both abiotic and biotic pollutants in a context of climate change.
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Eudald Carbonell

Co-director of the Sierra de Atapuerca excavations and General Director of the Atapuerca Foundation

Prehistorian and graduate in philosophy and literature from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1976), he obtained his doctorate in Quaternary geology from the Pierre et Marie Curie Paris VI University (1986) and in geography and history from the University of Barcelona (1988).
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He collaborated with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and in 1988 he joined the Rovira i Virgili University as a lecturer (until 1991), a branch of the University of Barcelona in Tarragona, now Rovira i Virgili University, where he has been professor of prehistory since 1999. From this institution he promoted an interdisciplinary research team that materialised in the creation of the Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) in 2004, which he directed until 2015. He has carried out numerous excavations at European and African sites, including those at Atapuerca, since 1978, under the direction of Emiliano Aguirre, whom he succeeded in 1991 together with José María Bermúdez de Castro and Juan Luis Arsuaga, and at Abric Romaní, which he has directed since 1983. He is a founding trustee and vice-president of the Atapuerca Foundation. He is the author of a large number of works, among others, the article published in the journal Science, together with other members of the Atapuerca team, entitled A Hominid from the Lower pléistocène of Atapuerca, Spain: possible Ancestor to Neanderthales and Modern Humans (1997), in which he presented the Homo antecesor, which he placed at a date well before the establishment of hominids in Europe. He also stands out as a populariser and author of numerous essays in which he sets out his vision of the human condition, influenced by his training as a paleoanthropologist and by an ethics of human progress based on Marxism. He has been appointed Distinguished Professor at Rovira i Virgili University (2003), and is a member of the Spanish Chapter of the Club of Rome and the New York Academy of Sciences. In 1997 he was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize on behalf of the Atapuerca team. In 2000 he received the Narcís Monturiol Medal for scientific merit, awarded by the Government of Catalonia, and in 2009 he was awarded the National Culture Prize.
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Bernd Decker

Head of Sector in the Unit ‘LIFE Energy and LIFE Climate’ at the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (established by the European Commission)

Andrea Gonçalves

Architect at Intermunicipal Community of Central Alentejo, (CIMAC) / Environment and Development Unit (UAD)

Graduated in Architecture (2003) by the Lisbon School of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon and PhD in Architecture (2015) by the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, with the thesis “Positive Synergetic Processes for an Urban Regeneration Strategy. A Case Study: the City of Évora”.
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She is working at CIMAC/UAD, since November 2022, in projects focusing the sustainable development of the Central Alentejo territory. Before integrating CIMAC, she worked in different architecture scales of intervention, as well in various working environments, as public institutions (Lisbon Municipality, Vendas Novas Municipality and Architects Portuguese Order) and private sector (in Portugal and in Belfast, United Kingdom).
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Jesús Iglesias Saugar

Ambassador of the EU Climate Pact / SBNCLIMA S.L.

Jesus is a social entrepreneur. Since 2009 he catalyzes social innovation processes for climate resilience and social equity, both locally and internationally.
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He has been a speaker at the last 6 UN Climate Change Conferences. He is a EU Climate Pact Ambassador, and a regular contributor to prominent Spanish media such as El País and elDiario.es. He is an engineer, with a MsC in Space & Earth Sciences by the Paris Observatory and UC Berkeley, and a MsC in Sustainable Development by EOI Business School. He belongs to and actively participates in multiple networks such as the Nature-Based Solutions Cluster, International Localization Alliance, Climate Reality or 350.org.
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Francisca Hipólito

R+D+i Officer at Las Naves, Valencia City Council

Degree in Law and Master in Institutions and Politics of the European Union, both from the University of Valencia.
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She has been working since 2016 at Las Naves, the urban social innovation centre of Valencia City Council in the management of European projects. Specialist in urban innovation and sustainability, she has developed her experience in Las Naves in projects of Nature-based Solutions and the Climate Mission València 2030. She also coordinates the actions of public procurement of innovation together with the innovation service of the Valencia City Council and the observatories GENTS, on innovation and trends, and Organizaciones de Futuro, on organisational innovation.
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Víctor Irigoyen Hidalgo

Co-director of the Nature-Based Solutions Observatory, CONAMA Foundation

Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Alcalá (Alcalá de Henares, Madrid). With more than 10 years of experience in sustainability project management, he began his professional career as a Technical Expert at the Spanish Association of Environmental Sciences, where he led projects on sustainable mobility, energy efficiency and energy poverty.
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He is currently part of the CONAMA Foundation team, where he serves as co-Director of the Observatory of Nature-based Solutions, the main platform and community in Spain on the subject, as well as Programme Manager for the thematic areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, employment and green and blue economy for the implementation of the National Environmental Congresses (CONAMA) and the Meetings of Towns and Cities for Sustainability (CONAMA LOCAL).
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Jole Lutzu

Officer Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI Europe

Jole is Officer at ICLEI Europe in Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience, supporting local governments facing urbanisation challenges, assisting them building a vision that allows them and their communities to consolidate resilient and sustainable transformation pathways.
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Jole currently works in a number of different European funded projects on urban resilience and climate adaptation. She also supports the Policy Support Facility programme under the Covenant of Mayors – Europe, and global advocacy initiatives, such as Making Cities Resilient 2030. She holds a master degree in Architecture from Sapienza – University of Rome and a master degree in City Resilience Design and Management from the International University of Catalonia (Barcelona). She has conducted key research in Rome and Barcelona on community led transition processes and climate resilient urban regeneration processes, with experience in strategic resilience planning, infrastructure and governance.
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Raquel Marijuan

Architect of the Natural Resources and Climate Area, CARTIF Foundation

Degree in Fundamentals of Architecture and Master Degree in Architecture from the University of Valladolid.
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She has been working since 2019 at the CARTIF Foundation, in the Natural Resources and Climate Area, specifically in the field of Nature-based Solutions. She is part of urban renaturalisation and NBS projects such as URBAN GreenUP and myBUILDINGisGREEN and is Coordinator of the NATMed project. Her experience is related to urban renaturation research and projects, NBS development and ecosystem services assessment.
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María P. Martín 

Director of the Royal Botanical Garden, RJB-CSIC

PhD in Mycology, Barcelona Univ. Postdoctoral training, Dept. Forest Mycology and Pathology, SLU, Uppsala (Sweden).
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Postdoctoral fellow in 1999 at the Real Jardín Botánico within the project “Flora Micológica Iberica”. Later, was contracted as a Ramón y Cajal researcher till became a CSIC Senior Scientist in 2002, CSIC Scientific Researcher since 2009, and Research Professor in 2019. At the RJB, she has been head of the Technical Support Unit for Research, Deputy Director of Research and Documentation, Head of the Mycological Department, and Deputy-Director of Gardener and Arboriculture. Actually, she is the RJB Director. Pioneer in Spain in integrating molecular techniques in fungal taxonomic studies. Her research focuses on discovering and describing fungal biodiversity through morphological, physiological and molecular characters, analyzing the genetic variability of species and establishing the phylogenetic relationships between them. Since 2014, she is visiting professor at the University of Rio Grande do Norte (Natal, Brazil), in the Graduate Program in Systematics and Evolution, teaching the Systematic Molecular Mushroom Course[
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Marisol Mena

Technical Advisor in the Subdirectorate-General for Energy and Climate Change, Madrid City Council

Sociologist and civil servant in Madrid City Council since 1987 in the planning of public policies in various fields such as public health, environmental education, pedestrian and cyclist mobility on school roads, urban planning with criteria of adaptation to climate change, models of governance of urban public space, historical heritage, landscape and cultural management.
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Currently Technical Advisor in the S.G. for Energy and Climate Change of the Environment and Mobility Area in the design of strategies and projects for adaptation to climate change, design and development of European projects, technical collaborations between the City Council with Climate-Kic and the Polytechnic University of Madrid to develop a portfolio of projects that accelerate the decarbonisation of the city and achieve the objectives of climate neutrality in 2050. Particularly interested in the transformation processes of public institutions and collaborative and interdisciplinary work as levers of change in climate policies.
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Jesús Muñoz

Principal Investigator of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project, RJB-CSIC

Senior Researcher at the Royal Botanic Garden (Madrid, CSIC), an institution where he was Director between 2014 and 2018.
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His research focuses on four main research lines: (1) taxonomy and systematics of bryophytes, (2) modeling distributions and long-distance dispersal of organisms, (3) optimization of protected area networks, and (4) Nature-Based Solutions. He has published more than 100 scientific papers and (co-)authored 14 books or book chapters on these topics. He has also supervised eight doctoral theses and 26 Master's theses. Between 2008 and 2013 he was the director of the official UIMP-CSIC master's degree "Biodiversity in Tropical Areas and its Conservation", which was taught in Ecuador.
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Alejandro Peña Paredes

Director of the Rural Development and Sustainability Area of the Provincial Council of Badajoz

Degree in Environmental Sciences and Technical Engineer in Public Works (specialising in Hydrology) from the University of Extremadura.
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Career Civil Servant of Special Administration, as a Graduate in Environmental Sciences of the Provincial Council of Badajoz. Manager of PROMEDIO, Consortium for the Management of Environmental Services of the Province of Badajoz (2005-2012) with tasks of organization and implementation, both technical and economic, of different Environmental Services of Local Character, related to the Integral Cycle of Water and with the complete cycle of Urban Solid Waste. Co-director of the Specialisation Course on Integrated Water Cycle Management, organised by the UEX and PROMEDIO (2014 and 2015). Coordinator of the Sustainable Development Area, Badajoz Provincial Council (2015-July 2019), with tasks of organisation, implementation and development of the Area in different fields (SDGs, climate change, circular economy, energy efficiency, green areas, urban environment, etc.). Director of the Rural Development and Sustainability Area of the Badajoz Provincial Council (August 2019-present), incorporating the functions of Training for employment andentrepreneurship to the Sustainable Development Area. Technical Director of the RDI Centre for Local Sustainability in the Province of Badajoz, developed by the Badajoz Provincial Council through the FEDER-MAP, carrying out planning, programming, management, execution and control of expenditure for the implementation of NNTT, research and development in the management of the Local Environment in the Province of Badajoz (2008-2011). Director of the MOVEM PLAN (Provincial Plan for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles in the Province of Badajoz. 2018-2020). Director of the SMARTENERGIA PLAN (Plan for the development of renewable energies and energy efficiency in municipal facilities, protection of the night sky, etc.). Collaborator in sustainability of the Extremadura Local Fund for Development Cooperation (FELCODE) developing missions in the field of Water and Waste from 2008 to 2019, in different countries in Latin America and Africa. Technical Collaborator of the Spanish Network of Cities for Climate (FEMP).
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Lucas Perea Gil

Head of the Cooperation and Funds Unit at EMASESA – LIFE WaterCool project

Degree in Geological Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid, Executive MBA (EOI Seville), Master's Degree in Occupational Risk Prevention (intermediate level) and Master's Degree in Protocol and Event Organisation (ESERP).
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He has worked in mining, geotechnics, contaminated soils, hazardous waste management and, since 2005, he has been working at EMASESA (Seville Public Water Company), where he has been responsible for different areas such as CEO Support, Research and Innovation, Social Responsibility and Communication. He is currently Head of the Department of Cooperation, European Funds and Innovation, and Secretary of the ELIGE Network (Association of Local Public Companies of Spain).
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Begoña Pernas

GEA 21

Cristina Pino

Directorate General for Green Zones of the Madrid City Council

Cristina is an agricultural engineer specialising in horticulture and gardening from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). She also holds a Master's degree in gardening and landscaping from the same university.
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Since March 2022 she is Deputy to the Biodiversity Department of the General Directorate of Green Zones of the Madrid City Council, being her main function the implementation of the Plan for the Promotion and Management of Biodiversity in the city of Madrid.
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Marta Pinto

Head of the Environmental Management Unit at the Municipality of Porto

Biologist. She has been working since 1995 in communication, public participation and education for sustainability, as well as in climate change and green infrastructure planning.
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She worked in an environmental NGO, in the private sector, in two universities and now in the public sector. In 2011 she created the project FUTURO - 100.000 native trees for the Metropolitan Area of Porto and managed it until 2018, from the Regional Centre of Excellence in Education for Sustainable Development. Since 2019 she is Head of the Environmental Management Unit of the Municipality of Porto. In her spare time, she tries to create a small green infrastructure on her urban terrace
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Nuria Preciado Franch

Head the Cities Area, Biodiversity Foundation

Biologist specialising in urban environment. Her work focuses on improving environmental comfort and well-being in cities through the application of an ecosystemic approach to urban green systems.
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She is also a consultant in the planning of green spaces, taking into account all their aspects: landscape, metabolic, cultural-identity, heritage, environmental comfort, ecosystemic functionality and biodiversity. Since November 2021 she has joined the Biodiversity Foundation, first as a Senior Technician and recently as Head of the Cities Area, a newly created area for the management of European funds for the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the renaturalisation of urban environments.
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Jorge del Préstamo

Member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Association of Green Roofs and Walls, ASESCUVE

Degree in Physics, specialising in Applied Physics, from the Autonomous University of Madrid in 2000, completing and directing his academic training towards sustainability and the environment with courses in renewable energies at CIEMAT and at the International Centre for the Technological Training of Solar Energy Specialists "CENSOLAR".
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In 2006 he began his professional development in the field of architecture, specifically in the company Intemper, as Head of the Department of Photovoltaic Construction Solutions for integration into building roofs. During this period, he worked intensively on the design of construction solutions for waterproofing and roofs in general. In 2013, he joined the Zinco Ibérica team, assuming the Commercial Management of the company, however, he developed a high activity as a Technical Consultant, participating in turn as a speaker at conferences and Master and degree courses at various universities: School of Architecture of Granada, School of Agricultural Engineers of Madrid and School of Architecture of the University Rey Juan Carlos I.
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Hugo Riquelme

Co-founder of Singular Green, Technical Consultancy of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project

Technical Forestry Engineer. Co-founder of SingularGreen, which has been designing, installing and projecting Nature-Based Solutions for more than 10 years.

Paula Rivas

Head of the Technical Area of Green Building Council Spain, GBCe

Architect and Master Degree in Environment and Bioclimatic Architecture by the ETSAM.
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Her professional career has always been linked to sustainable architecture. She has collaborated with various technical offices in the bioclimatic orientation of urban planning and building projects. In 2005 she joined the AUIA team, with Luis Álvarez-Ude, where she began to collaborate in the development of the VERDE building assessment tool, work to which she has been linked until the present day. She is the Technical Director of GBCe, where her activity focuses on the development of sustainability in buildings, the method for calculating indicators and the management of VERDE and DGNB System certification. She also participates in the European Commission's Level(s) initiative, supporting the Joint Research Center in the application of sustainability indicators in Spain, where GBCe is the coordinating entity of the Spanish testing teams. Her professional career includes training activities, participation in multiple research projects and collaboration in various publications in the sector.
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Marta Román

GEA 21

Luis Tejero

Subdirectorate-General for Energy and Climate Change, Madrid City Council

Agricultural Engineer and Master in City Science from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM).
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Since 2005 he has worked in Madrid City Council in different municipal areas, Green Zones, Environmental Education and in recent years in Energy and Climate Change. He currently develops municipal climate action policies and coordinates programmes for the adaptation of the city to climate change.
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Ine Vandecasteele

Expert in Urban Adaptation, European Environment Agency (EEA)

Ine currently works on communicating knowledge on urban adaptation to policymakers at the EU through to local level, and is leading the EEA’s upcoming 2024 report on Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe.
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She has an academic background in environmental and political sciences, a PhD in hydraulic engineering, and previously worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre on topics related to water, energy and land resources as well as urban sustainability.
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Miguel Vega

General Coordinator of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project, RJB-CSIC

Degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Salamanca (2010) and Official Master's Degree in Biodiversity in Tropical Areas and its Conservation (2011).
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He began his professional career as a Project Coordinator at the IROKO Sustainable Forestry Development Association (IROKO DFS), leading European projects on environmental education and forest conservation, and international development cooperation projects in Togo and Venezuela. In 2018, he joined the Royal Botanical Garden (RJB-CSIC) team as a Project, Communication and Training Officer of the Spanish Node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF Spain). From June 2022, he assumes the general coordination of the LIFE-myBUILDINGisGREEN project, being the European Project Manager of the Hidden Biodiversity research group of the Royal Botanical Garden.
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Overview | Registration | Detailed agenda | Speakers | Practical information |

Practical information

The organisation of this congress is hosted by the Royal Botanical Garden (RJB-CSIC), in whose facilities the event will take place.

Contact information is available in the corresponding section of the project website: https://life-mybuildingisgreen.eu/en/contact/

As for the venue, access will be provided through the staff entrance to the Garden, located on Calle Claudio Moyano 1, 28014 Madrid.

Emergency numbers in Spain:

– Pan-European emergency number: 112
– Local police: 092
– Fire brigade: 080 o 085
– National police: 091

Covid-19 restrictions:

For general information about Covid-19 in Spain, please visit the Ministry webpage:
https://www.sanidad.gob.es/areas/alertasEmergenciasSanitarias/alertasActuales/nCov/home.htm

Contact information:

• Miguel Vega (Main contact, RJB-CSIC)
  miguel.vega@rjb.csic.es | +34 91 420 30 17
• Jesús Muñoz (RJB-CSIC)
  jmunoz@rjb.csic.es | +34 91 420 30 17

Project partners

In collaboration with

Co-funded by