As part of the WATERGRID project, the Bioclimatic Park Drienová is becoming one of the examples of good practice from which experience in implementing water retention measures will be shared and disseminated across Europe.
The project aims to create a new approach—an innovative smart water grid based on nature-based solutions that can adapt to the landscape’s needs in times of climate change. The goal is simple yet ambitious: to retain as much rainwater in the landscape as possible, use it wisely and efficiently, and strengthen the resilience of our environment to drought.
The Civic association Ecoenergy is one of 22 partners involved in the project WATERGRID. This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon EUROPE research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101180636.
Another key partner is the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, which will monitor how effective the measures in the Bioclimate Park Drienová are at retaining rainwater and protecting the landscape from drought.
The work in Bioclimate park is based on the New Water Paradigm, which highlights the importance of holding rainwater directly in the landscape and using it as our most valuable natural resource. Without water, there can be no fertile soil, healthy ecosystems, or stability in society and the economy. That is why caring for water must become a shared priority for individuals and communities alike.
Nature based solutions
Rather than investing in costly, time-consuming, and often unsustainable technical constructions, the project focuses on Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). These measures—such as wetlands, soil retention systems, and small water reservoirs—slow water runoff, keep rainwater in the soil, and allow it to be reused during dry periods.
Although such methods were once widely used by our ancestors, many were destroyed during collectivization, leading to landscape degradation. Now, by restoring them, WATERGRID aims to create a “smart water grid”: a network of adaptive, nature-friendly measures that respond to local conditions and needs.
The project, launched in September 2025, will run for four years in eight European locations, from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean. Five of these, including Drienová, will serve as demonstration sites, while three others will test the transferability of the models. Altogether, 58 innovative measures will be introduced to slow down, retain, and reuse water where it is most needed.
The European Commission defines nature-based solutions as “Solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience. Such solutions bring more, and more diverse, nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes, through locally adapted, resource-efficient and systemic interventions.” Nature-based solutions must benefit biodiversity and support the delivery of a range of ecosystem services.
For the Bioclimatic Park Drienová, biodiversity support is a top priority.
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