NATURALEA CONSERVACIO, SL

Their core work

Naturalea is a Spanish SME specializing in bioengineering and nature-based solutions (NBS) for environmental risk management, particularly focused on river restoration and hydro-meteorological hazard mitigation. They bring practical expertise in designing and implementing green infrastructure solutions that work with natural processes rather than against them. Their work spans from understanding hyporheic zone processes (the interface between surface water and groundwater) to deploying sensor networks for environmental monitoring and applying NBS to climate adaptation challenges.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Naturalea's H2020 trajectory shows a clear progression from fundamental science toward applied climate solutions. Their earliest project (HypoTRAIN, 2015) was a training network focused on understanding complex physical and chemical processes in river systems — foundational research. By 2018, their most recent project (OPERANDUM) had shifted to deploying nature-based solutions in open-air laboratories to manage real-world hydro-meteorological risks, integrating Copernicus data and co-design methods. The pattern suggests a company that built its scientific credibility first and then moved to applied, scalable environmental interventions.

Naturalea is moving from research participation toward applied NBS implementation with Earth observation integration — positioning them well for Horizon Europe missions on climate adaptation.

How they like to work

Naturalea always participates as a partner rather than leading consortia, which is typical for a specialized SME contributing domain expertise to larger research efforts. With 61 unique partners across 22 countries in just 3 projects, they operate in large, international consortia — suggesting comfort working in complex multi-partner environments. Their role appears to be that of a practitioner who brings real-world bioengineering and NBS implementation experience to predominantly academic consortia.

Despite only 3 projects, Naturalea has built a remarkably broad network of 61 partners across 22 countries, reflecting the large consortium sizes typical of MSCA and Innovation Action funding schemes. Their network spans most of Europe, giving them wide geographic reach for a small company.

What sets them apart

Naturalea occupies an unusual niche as a private company bridging ecological engineering practice with EU research. While most NBS work in H2020 is led by universities and research institutes, Naturalea brings hands-on experience in designing and constructing bioengineered solutions for river systems and slope stabilization. For consortium builders, they offer something rare: a commercial partner that can both contribute to research and demonstrate real-world NBS implementation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• OPERANDUM
  Their largest project (EUR 380K) and most strategically significant — open-air laboratories for nature-based solutions integrating Copernicus data, directly aligned with EU Green Deal priorities.
• HypoTRAIN
  A Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network that provided Naturalea with deep scientific grounding in hyporheic processes, unusual for a private SME to participate in.