On 28 January 2026, more than 20 stakeholders gathered in the Lèze valley, France, for the second SpongeLab workshop. The workshop was jointly organised with the Horizon Europe project SpongeWorks, which is also active in the Lèze basin.
While SpongeWorks addresses the entire Lèze basin, SpongeScapes focuses its SpongeLab process on one sub-basin: the Rosé. This workshop created an opportunity to work across both geographical scales.
From 22 to 26 September 2025, European researchers, water managers, farmers, local authorities representatives gathered in Toulouse for the General Assembly of the Horizon Europe projects SpongeScapes and SpongeWorks. This joint event highlighted Europe’s role as a living laboratory for developing and testing “sponge measures” – nature-based solutions that help landscapes absorb, store, and slowly release water to reduce floods, ease droughts, and boost biodiversity.
The Lèze catchment (350 km², about 34,000 inhabitants) in south-west France is located in a hilly pre-mountainous area (Pyrenees), and is part of the larger Garonne catchment. The Lèze river has very marked seasonal variations in flow. A large irrigation dam in the upper part of the basin and 11 small dams along the river control the flow. The case study is located in regions that signed the Mission Charter of the EU Mission on Climate Adaptation.