The AGEO project for landslide management, in collaboration with the City Council's Fire and Rescue Service, has been selected as one of 25 projects of excellence funded by the European Union. The public can vote for its selection.
The AGEO research project, for the management of landslides and geological hazards in the Atlantic, which had the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana as one of its main laboratories and the Fire and Rescue Service (SEIS) as a collaborating agent, has been selected as one of the 25 finalists for the 2025 Regiostars Awards organized by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG Regio) of the European Commission.
These annual awards recognize the excellence of EU-funded projects and their positive impact on local and regional development. The AGEO platform is competing as one of the five finalists in the "Green Europe" category, one of the five areas that structure the competition, to which a total of 266 projects were submitted.
The public voting period is open until midday on Wednesday, October 15th, when the ceremony will be held at the European Union headquarters in Brussels. The winners of each category will be announced, along with the project with the highest public rating. The projects in the five categories can be visited and voted on at https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/projects/regio-stars-awards_en?etrans=es
Reference station in Gran Canaria
The AGEO project enabled the launch of five citizen observatories in Portugal, Spain, France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In Spain, research led by the Canary Islands Unit of the Geological and Mining Institute of the Higher Center for Scientific Research was carried out in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and El Hierro. San Bartolomé de Tirajana was chosen as the representative municipality of this island and as a pilot reference station due to the potential geological risk posed by the geographical areas of Amurga, Tunte, Risco Blanco, and Rosiana.
In addition to the SEIS, the Amurga, Faro, and Támara secondary schools, social groups, and individual residents participated in the citizen observatory established to conduct the research in this municipality. Following the presentation of the project's benchmark conclusions last May, the Department of Security and Emergencies, headed by José Carlos Álamo, incorporated it into the prevention and response protocol of the Municipal Emergency Plan (PEMU).
“The safety of the residents of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and the thousands of people who visit it is a priority objective. The AGEO project will help us respond more effectively and more quickly in the emergencies that have been studied,” says José Carlos Álamo. “From an operational perspective, this project gives us the ability to make much more precise decisions to safeguard people's lives in the event of torrential rains or any other municipal disaster, whether in the form of a lockdown or evacuation,” insists SEIS Chief Officer José Felipe Santana Rodríguez.
During the studies carried out for the AGEO project in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, the Copernicus satellite program was used to monitor and delimit high-density landslide risk zones and their areas of influence, and to analyze the natural phenomena that could cause them.
