The Grand Challengers Podcast Episode #32

Partnering with nature in Spain’s journey to Sustainable Drainage and Climate Adaptation

Guest: Luis Angel Sañudo Fontaneda

September 17th, 2024

Episode Teaser

Introduction

“…In some ways, it’s that you are partnering with nature, in saying, well, I’m starting this, after that it’s up to you…”

Luis Angel Sanudo Fontaneda is an Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo in Asturias, Spain. What started as a simple visit to a pervious pavement site then became Luis’ passion throughout his career to support northern Spain’s adoption of Sustainable Drainage Systems for climate adaptation, one technology at a time. He is passionate about bridging engineers, scientists, policymakers and the local community in developing effective blue-green infrastructures , be it pervious pavements, swales or bioretention systmes, that require little active maintenance and deliver over the long term.

On today’s show, Luis and I discuss Spain’s story in the adoption of Sustainable Drainage Systems and delve into the details of pervious paving, swales and how they can transform over their life span. We also reflect on our parallel journeys through academia, from our first conference to building up your research portfolio and the need for an urgent shift in mindset to combat increasing competition and emerging mental health challenges among young researchers within the community.

Biography

Luis Angel Sanudo Fontaneda is an Associate Professor at the University of Oviedo in Asturias Spain. He obtained a Masters in Civil Engineering and Research in 2009/2010 on the research topic of permeable surface and continued to pursue a PhD from the University of Cantabria in 2014 on rainwater infiltration into permeable pavements with interlocking concrete blocks and porous mixtures. Shortly thereafter, he ventured to Coventry University in the UK for a postdoc, where he expanded his portfolio of Sustainable Drainage Systems to swale systems. In 2016, he returned to Spain as an Assistant Professor at the University of Oviedo and became Associate Professor in 2021 and, currently a Fullbright Scholarship with North Carolina State University.

Luis has followed and contributed significantly to the adoption of SuDS in northern Spain, supporting practitioners in better understanding, implementing and maintaining different types of systems, in particular, pervious pavements. His work has not only considered the technical dimension of performance and maintenance, but also the social dimension, understanding receptivity towards such systems in the local communities. Currently, Luis is co-chair of the newly formed International Water Association (IWA) International Working Group on Blue-Green Infrastructures (iBGI), a global network, which strives to promote knowledge exchange in the field and to support practice in more rapidly adopting nature in cities worldwide. Apart from his work in the technical domain, Luis is also a passionate teacher and supervisor of many young researchers and aims to bring down barriers that surround conversations around critical issues in academia such as overcompetition and mental health, hoping to create a more healthy and sustainable environment for research and knowledge work, going into the future.

Resources Related to the Episode

  • Key Conference for Urban Drainage Researchers
  • Luis is from Torrelavega in Cantabria, Spain
  • Luis mentions quite a few people across the episode, here are their names and profiles:
  • As mentioned on the episode, we’re starting up the International Blue-Green Infrastructures (iBGI) Working Group – you will find infos here once the group website’s up!
  • Northern Spain: Cantabria and its history – Luis is now based in Asturias, Spain
  • SuDS and water management for climate adaptation in Spain:
  • Luis’ work on pervious/porous pavements:
    • Sañudo-Fontaneda, L.A., Andrés-Valeri, V.C., Rodriguez-Hernandez, J. and Castro-Fresno, D., 2014. Field study of infiltration capacity reduction of porous mixture surfaces. Water, 6(3), pp.661-669. [Open Access Link]
    • Sañudo-Fontaneda, L.A., Andres-Valeri, V.C., Costales-Campa, C., Cabezon-Jimenez, I. and Cadenas-Fernandez, F., 2018. The long-term hydrological performance of permeable pavement systems in northern Spain: An approach to the “end-of-life” concept. Water, 10(4), p.497. [Open Access Link]
  • Luis’ paper on Swales on the work her did while at Coventry Uni, UK:
    • Sañudo-Fontaneda, L.A., Roces-García, J., Coupe, S.J., Barrios-Crespo, E., Rey-Mahía, C., Álvarez-Rabanal, F.P. and Lashford, C., 2020. Descriptive analysis of the performance of a vegetated swale through long-term hydrological monitoring: A case study from coventry, UK. Water, 12(10), p.2781. [Open Access Link]
  • Work on social perceptions of SuDS:
    • Sañudo-Fontaneda, L.A. and Robina-Ramírez, R., 2019. Bringing community perceptions into sustainable urban drainage systems: The experience of Extremadura, Spain. Land Use Policy, 89, p.104251. [Link]
    • Luis and his colleagues are working on an update to the study. Their newest publication can be found here once it’s available!
  • The paper by Luis mentioned on stormwater maintenance: Winston, R.J., Al-Rubaei, A.M., Blecken, G.T., Viklander, M. and Hunt, W.F., 2016. Maintenance measures for preservation and recovery of permeable pavement surface infiltration rate–The effects of street sweeping, vacuum cleaning, high pressure washing, and milling. Journal of environmental management, 169, pp.132-144. [Link]
  • We mention Juan Pablo Rodriguez Sanchez, who is one of our great friends and has been on the show. Check out his Episode to hear his story
  • Luis references Robert Frost’s Poem “The Road not taken” in his final message

Episode Chapters

(Chapters are embedded in the episode for quick access, click this to expand and view all chapters and time stamps)
  • 0:00 Intro
  • 2:00 Guest Intro and Academic Conferencing
  • 7:26 A series of fun coincidences and an announcement
  • 9:27 Spain, Cantabria, Geography and Climate
  • 12:52 Spain’s History in SuDS and Luis’ entry
  • 21:30 Pervious Pavements 101
  • 36:18 Getting into Swales
  • 41:41 Receptivity towards SuDS in Spain
  • 47:04 Luis’ next SuDS endeavour
  • 49:43 Q&A Start
  • 50:06 What inspires you?
  • 51:42 Key event, person, book
  • 58:28 If you had a magic wand?
  • 1:07:19 Time management
  • 1:11:14 Advice for young researchers
  • 1:12:43 Where can people reach you?
  • 1:13:27 Final Message
  • 1:14:34 Outro

Connect with Luis Angel Sañudo Fontaneda

Related Episodes

Episode #13 – Veljko Prodanovic
Going vertical in a green horizontal world and promoting urban water and nature co-design
(Related Topics: blue-green infrastructures, social perceptions)
Episode #15 – Juan Pablo Rodríguez Sánchez
“Restrictions and constraints breed innovation” – sewers and nature-based solutions in Colombia
(Related Topics: sustainable drainage systems, stormwater management)
Episode #24 – Jon Hathaway
The ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of green infrastructure, opening a ‘can of worms’ and gaining control of watersheds
(Related Topics: stormwater maintenance, bioretention, blue-green infrastructures)
Episode #31 – Neil Armitage
Reflections, from a canoe chute and litter traps to Day Zero and South Africa’s Sustainable Drainage
(Related Topics: sustainable drainage systems, implementation, stormwater maintenance)

Credits