ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
augustDear all,In this newsletter
Intro

1

SEMINAR ljubljana

2

MEANDER project (Croatia)

4

CIREF
Online training programme

6

Multifaceted, interlaced andwithout barriers – the new
Emscher ecological concept

8International Conference on
the Status and Future of theWorld’s Large Rivers

9Rivers a linked ecosystems

9

A new LIFE+ funded project
was launched in Europe

10

Proceedings of the IVth ECRR
International Conference onRiver Restoration translated into
Russian10
Events 2011/2012

11

Call for articles

11

The summer of 2011 is nearing its end;
most of us have enjoyed a well deserved
holiday. Since the former newsletter anddespite the holiday period, a lot of activities
have been performed by the ECRR. The
secretariat received several interestingarticles for this newsletter.
An important activity for ECRR is coordinating the theme “protect and restore
rivers and water eco systems to reach agood ecological status of European water
bodies” as one of the events for the next
WWF which will take place in March, 2012,
at Marseille. The preparatory working
group, consisting of ECRR, ONEMA andEWA has met on several occasions to
discuss the preparation of the WWF-6.
One of many preparatory activities is toorganize a seminar that is planned on
November 15-18th in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
We are very glad to have the opportunity towork closely together with The National Institute for Water of the republic of Slovenia(NIW) towards this event.
If you want to contribute to the WWF6,
please register and do come to Ljubljana.
This task now is in full progress. A leaflet about the seminar is included in thisnewsletter.
We hope that in the near future we may
welcome the NIW within the ECRR network as official National River Restoration
Centre of Slovenia.

I am glad to announce that our Russiancounterparts have managed now to makeavailable to a broader audience the proceedings of the fourth ECRR International
Conference on River Restoration as thesehave been translated into Russian. In thisnewsletter you will find an article on this.
In this newsletter again some interestingarticles about river restoration projects
in this newsletter can be found. A practical example of a restoration pilot has
been outlined by Christina Oosterhoff andKlaas-Jan Douben in an article about the
Meander project, in Croatia.
Another interesting project is the restoration of the Emscher river, Germany, as
described by Mechteld Semrau and Rudolf
Hurck
In Spain, a start has been made for a newrange of river restoration E-courses in
Spanish; an article by Josu Elsu of CIREF
will explain more.
Apart from these, other items in thisNewsletter are:• Moment, introduction to an on goingproject in the South Baltic Sea Area
about modern water management withspecial attention to participation of“water users partnerships”.
• Events calender
Hil R. Kuypers
Secretary ECRR

ECRR NEWS | 1

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
SEMINAR 16 -18 november 2011 ljubljana
Forging Targets and Solutions for Rivers and Water Ecosystem Restoration
Collaborate with us to set the agenda at the 6th World Water Forum!

Sign up now for theopportunity
to influence thetargets of the 6th
World Water Forumof March 2012,
for the greater
European region.
Help to develop new knowledge
and know-how on rivers hydromorphology, restoration andprotection of water ecosystems.
Visit www.ecrr.org regularly to stay
up to date with the latest news, andfor registration.
Free admission is made possibleby the World Water Forum, ONEMA,RESTORE, EU Life+, ECRR, and theInstitute for Water of the Republic ofSlovenia.

Organising committee:• European Centre for River Restoration(ECRR) (Lead partner).
For more info visit www.ecrr.org.
• European Water Association (EWA).
For more info visit www.ewaonline.de.
• Institute for Water of the Republic ofSlovenia (IzVRS). For more info visit
www.izvrs.si/index_eng.html.
• The French National Agency for Water
and Aquatic Environments (ONEMA).
For more info visit www.onema.fr.
• RESTORE, Partnership for sharing
knowledge and good practice on River
Restoration in Europe (Environment
Agency, Wetlands International, SYKE,
DLG, RRC, CIRF). For more info visit
www.restorerivers.eu or email

Why you cannot afford to miss this:• Inspiring solutions - by examining
river restoration practices and also how
this might be delivered or supported
through land use planning, tourism andeducation.
• Invaluable networking - the ideal
platform to meet and share ideas withlike-minded professionals.
• Leading intelligence - share your viewon river restoration with the leading
experts from around Europe andbeyond.
• Find out about RESTORE: the new
LIFE+ project for sharing knowledge
and promoting good practice on riverrestoration in Europe.
This seminar is a preparatory meeting forthe 6th World Water Forum, for the greater
European region1. The goal is to build
capacity by working on new knowledge
for the protection and restoration of rivers
and other water ecosystems. This goal will
be achieved by formulating targets and aconcrete plan of action focused
1 This European region comprises: the European Union, theCandidate countries to the European Union, Norway and
Switzerland, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Belarus, Moldova,
Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the Caucasus, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Georgia.

on 4 main topics:
1. Promote integration of aquatic
ecosystems conservation in land (use)planning and other territorial policies,
2. Reach consensus on river restoration
good practices as a means to supportdelivery of European policy goals.
3. Reinforce public education onwater ecosystems and resources
preservation and restoration,
4. Improve the link between tourism
development and quality of water
ecosystems.
This is for you if you are a: policy maker,
planner, engineer, land and catchment
planner, river restoration organisation andnetwork, river manager, representativefrom stake holders like hydro-power, landowner/famer, navigation organisation andanybody else who wants to pull in thesubject.

SEE NEXT PAGE FOR TENTATIVEPROGRAM

restore@environment-agency.gov.uk
The RESTORE project is madepossible with thecontribution of the LIFE+
financial instrument of theEuropean Community.

ECRR NEWS | 2

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
SEMINAR 16 -18 november 2011 ljubljana
WWF6 Draft targets

Tentative program

1. ... projects use knowledge fromgood practices of local land – useplanning and land-bank instruments
for ecosystem conservation / riverrestoration.
2. Delivery of European policy
objectives at local to basin scale isunderpinned by shared knowledge
and understanding of good practice
approaches to river restoration, basedon stakeholder owned problem analysis
and action plans, in … cases.
3. Lessons learned from social perception
studies and questionnaires/polls testing
the knowledge of the public will be
communicated in … river basins.
4. ... examples of integrated land andwater management planning projects
that take into account tourism
development will be reported on the
Forum solutions website.

Day 1:

November 16

12:00
13:00 - 13:30
13.30 - 16.30

Registration, information fair
Plenary opening session
Workshops
To identify main problems and solutions regarding the
4 main topics.
It is vital that information on good practice is developedand shared to support the implementation of the EC Water
Framework Directive and other key European Directives to help
address the decline in river habitat. Sharing will be done in sucha way that policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders canrelate this to their policy drivers and the related measures thatthey require, can access information that is contextually relevantto them, can understand the challenges and opportunities thatriver restoration presents and can as necessary engage withthose that have practical experience to share.
Info fair
Organisations present their activities, achievements and resultswith respect to the 4 main topics at stands, with posters, films,
brochures, etc.
Whether you are interested in national, basin wide or EU
policies... We intend to look at a wide range of themes
associated with river restoration and catchment management.
Please contact us at info@ecrr.org if you have information you
would like to share.
Network event hosted by RESTORE
Exchange experiences and interact informally with your peers at
the RESTORE network event. (see textbox).

RESTORE will address the lackof opportunities for sharing riverrestoration good practice andknowledge by creating:• an online knowledge management
database of case studies;• a website supporting informationsuch as European good practise;• 36 events in over 10 countries;• field visits• a major international conference.
If you or your organisation is involved
in river restoration or you are looking
to know more about river restoration
we hope to meet you. If you would
like to showcase your work within our
database and perhaps be identified as
European good practise, please bringexamples of your work.

16:30 - 18.00

18:00

Day 2

November 17

9:00 - 11:30

19:30

Key-note address
To summarize main problems and solutions regarding the
4 main topics.
The summaries from the working groups from the previous
day will be presented and integrated to further specify the draft
targets.
Field trip
A unique opportunity to visit a state of the art restoration projectin Slovenia (TBD).
Official joint dinner

Day 3

November 18

9:00

Plenary closing session
Recap and summary of the main targets and solutions per topic.
Outline remaining preparations towards WWF6.
End of seminar

12:00

13:00

ECRR NEWS | 3

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
MEANDER project (Croatia)
Successful Basic Training of Trainer course on Hydromorphological Monitoring and Assessment
One of the objectives of MEANDER(MEAsures for Naturation and DEvelopment of Rivers), a G2G project for
implementing WFD requirements in
Croatia, is to develop capacity within
national state institutes and ministries
for hydromorphological monitoring andassessment.
A basic Training of Trainers (ToT) courseon hydromorphological monitoring and assessment has been organised in Zagreb,
last July. The (approx. 20) participants are
employed at Croatian Waters, Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, State
Institute for Nature Protection, Ministry ofRegional Development, Forestry and Water
Management, University of Zagreb and Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries.
The ToT has been developed by the
Dutch Regional Water Authority Brabantse
Delta, in close cooperation with Croatian
Waters. Levelling the playing field for theparticipants with different backgrounds andexpertise is one of the main objectives. To
ensure a theoretical as well as a practical(hands-on) level of knowledge, the ToT includes a two-days basic (class-room) training (theory and application) and a one-day
field training.
The ToT primarily focuses on the relationof hydromorphology with the WFD andbasic principles of monitoring hydromorphological features in rivers and streams.
Key features of the most important (andEU-wide accepted) methodologies on hydromorphological monitoring and assessment have been presented, including their

specific scoring and classification systems.
The participants have also been involvedin an exercise, in which they had to ‘survey’ several sites along a water body on
the basis of photographs. A spreadsheet
programme was used to collect the survey
results, and to calculate various hydromorphological ‘classifications’.
The response of the participants to the lectures was positive, although many of them
have not yet been involved into hydromorphological monitoring. Also the exercise
was received very positive, it provided theparticipants opportunities to use sometheoretical elements ‘in practice’, generating interesting discussions.

The participants went into the field to practise and discuss the basics of hydromorphological monitoring. A relatively simple
survey protocol was used to monitor various sites with different hydromorphologicalfeatures along the Bliznec stream (north of
Zagreb, both natural and heavily modified
stretches), the Kraljevčki stream (north of
Zagreb, partly modified) and the Sava river(near Zaprešić, modified stretch).
The field visits were received very positive,
especially to ‘see’ the hydromorphologicalfeatures and the relation between theory
and practice in the field.
The field visits provided many opportunities to discuss the selection and implementation of a methodology for hydromorphological monitoring and assessment in
Croatia, including relations with on-goingbiological monitoring. Hence, giving input
to the remaining deliverables of this specific project component; development of
Croatian guidelines for hydromorphological monitoring and assessment (including
fact sheets and survey protocols), and an
implementation strategy for harmonizing
Croatian monitoring practices.

ECRR NEWS | 4

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
On behalf of the Netherlands Ministryof Infrastructure and Environment, the
EVD implements the Environmental
Facility of the G2G programme(G2G/V). This programme aims
to assist new EU member states,
candidate EU member states andpotential EU member states in meetingthe criteria for EU membership
through projects dealing with the(consequences of) implementation ofEuropean legislation.
Programme objectives:• to support the governments of
Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia,
Romania and Turkey with issues
related to the transposition and/or
implementation of EU legislation;• to foster bilateral government
to government co-operation on
relevant environmental focal areas.

In the process of EU integration, theRepublic of Croatia needs to harmonise its
monitoring practices with the requirementsof Water Framework Directive (WFD), andtake up these points in national legislation.
As hydro-morphology is a new element
introduced through the WFD, as is thecase for all EU Member States, progressin this field is running behind and thiselement urgently needs to be developed tocomply with EU standards.
In 2011 the Meander project started. In thisproject, the Dutch Government Service
for Land and Water Management, work
together with four Croatian organisations(Ministry of Regional Development,
Forestry and Water Management(MoRDFWM), the Ministry of Culture(MoC), Hrvatske vode (Croatian Waters,
CW) and the State Institute for Nature
Protection (SINP) on the development

The second component of the Mirna
project consists of the development ofguidelines and a strategy paper. This
component consists of 2 parts::
1 – To assist CW to work out a River
Restoration Plan for parts of the Mirna;
2 – To develop a special River Restoration
Guide for Croatia,
The first mission in May was meant to:
1 – to determine the most important targets
for restoration of the Mirna;
2 – to set up the general content andstructure of the guide.

of procedures and capacity ofhydromorfological knowledge.
The purpose of the Meander project is:“Developed procedures and capacity forhydro-morphological monitoring at national
level and methodology for the definitionof hydro-morphological measures basedon a case study in the Mirna river basin in
accordance with the requirements of the
WFD (Art. 8 & 11) and Birds and Habitat
Directives (Art 6).”The emphasis will lie on capacity
building through training and exchangeof experience (the first component) anddevelopment of guidelines and strategy
paper (the second component). At thismoment, both projects have started withseveral missions. In the next chapter
we will focus on the first results of themissions.

constructive.. Consensus was reachedabout the main content of the RR-guide.
A good insight of the stakeholders wasgiven. Also a list of the available data
were made up. In the next mission thepriorities in problem setting will be madeand hydrologic modelling will be started.
Therefor experts of the university will be
invited.
Christina Oosterhoff,c.oosterhoff@minlnv.nl
Klaas-Jan Douben
k.douben@brabantsedelta.nl

All relevant parties were present during
this event. The atmosphere was

ECRR NEWS | 5

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
CIREF Online training programme
INBO-Academy (International Network of Basin Organisations) and
CIREF (Iberian Centre for River Restoration), in coordination with ECRR
(European Centre for River Restoration), join their forces to propose to
Basin Organizations management
staff, consultants, and university
students a distance training program on river restoration in Spanish.

Training program on River Restoration
The European picture of river functions
and conflicts is quite variable from one
country to another; as a consequence, priorities can differ. Nevertheless, under theumbrella of ECRR (European Centre forRiver Restoration) and CIREF (its National
Center for the Iberian Peninsula), there is
a common view on river restoration, whichshould target the restoration of entire ecosystems and their processes, in which, as
in undisturbed nature, dynamism is a key
feature, expressed as the self-sustaining
capacity of river and stream ecosystems,
and their ability to respond to imposed external environmental changes (e.g. climatechange). River dynamics can be used as
the central process of restoration and create future trajectories of ecosystem and its
self-maintained recovery.

Through this Training Program, CIREF
wants to offer the possibility to improveknowledge linked to specific subjects ofriver restoration, in such a way that thestudent can join only the courses that best
suit his/her needs, avoiding those in which
he/she is sufficiently trained. For that, it
is offered a general program made up of
short courses in which all aspects related
to river restoration will be targeted, with theobjective of offering the students the possibility of obtaining in a comfortable way thenecessary knowledge to develop a goodquality work in their jobs related to riverrestoration.
It is sought to give the keys to understandhow to use an ecological approach forreaching the Good Ecological Status or
Potential of their water bodies, and to fightagainst floods. Students will learn directlyfrom specialists both theoretical and thepractical aspects related to river restoration, with special focus on fluvial ecosystems of the Iberian Peninsula.
The program is made up of 9 courses of
4-5 sessions each that will take place on
Fridays from 16:00 to 18:00 hours (Central European Time) and will be taught byprofessors form different universities andrecognized experts on river restoration. All
courses will end up on a wrap up session
and round table with all lecturers to develop the discussion on most interesting matters, and answer to participant’s questions.
At the end of each course, a certificate will
be issued.
Online training is an excellent way to makelearning easier at a lower cost, since timeand money usually spent in traveling andaccommodation is saved, with no decline
on the quality offered. To assist the courses,
students only need a computer connected
to internet and a microphone. Headphones
are recommended to obtain a better soundquality. Software used in the courses is very
easy to understand and will be explained in
the first session of each course.
Audience
River basin managers, decision makers
from basin organizations or regional administrations, private consultants that workor wish to work on river restoration, university students that wish to improve theirknowledge to devote themselves to riverrestoration, and in general to all experts onriver restoration who wish to improve theirknowledge in any specific subject related
to river restoration.

Between 1998 and 2005, Europe sufferedover 100 major damaging floods. Flood alleviation measures must be based on an
integrated implementation and planningof projects resulted in a better protection
against floods and contributed to the natural development and/or hydrological connectivity of floodplains.
Linkages and feedbacks between hydrology, geomorphology and ecology along
river corridors have provided knowledge
that has influenced the way the rivers aremanaged today.
River restoration is an effective tool to
implement EU Directives, and chiefly theWater Framework Directive; on the other
hand, existing legislation gives good opportunities to implement river restoration
measures.

ECRR NEWS | 6

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011

Language
All courses will be taught in Spanish. Different versions of this program in otherlanguages (English, Italian,…) are being
prepared by INBO and National Centers of
ECRR and will be available soon.

PlacesThere are a limited number of places foreach course. This maximum number is 25
and will be allocated in registration order.
Registration to one course does not give
any preferential right to be admitted toother courses.

Cost and registration
Cost of each course is 150 € (125 € formembers of CIREF). Registration should
be made through CIREF’s web page(www.cirefluvial.com). Once the registrationis received, instructions on how to makethe payment will be sent through e-mail.

Dates
Course 1

Basis for river restoration: characterization and diagnosis of river system

From September 2 to 30, 2011

Course 2

Legal and economic aspects of river restoration

From October 7 to November 4, 2011

Course 3

Design and execution of a river restoration project

From November 11 to December 16, 2011

Course 4

Overview of computer tools and modeling in river restoration

From January 13 to February 10, 2012

Course 5

River restoration techniques I

From February 17 to March 16, 2012

Course 6

River restoration techniques II

From March 23 to April 20, 2012

Course 7

River restoration techniques III

From April 27 to May 18, 2012

Course 8

Rehabilitation of heavily modified water bodies

From May 25 to June 15, 2012

Course 9

Evaluating and monitoring river restoration plans/projects

From June 22 to July 13, 2012

For more information on contents, lecturers, etc in each course please visit www.cirefluvial.com
Organization:
CIREF, Centro Ibérico de Restauración Fluvial Office International de l’Eau,
INBO Permanent Technical Secretary.
ECRR, European Centre for River Restoration

ECRR NEWS | 7

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
Multifaceted, interlaced and without barriers – the new Emscher ecological concept
Abstract
Part of the integrated river basin management for the Emscher Region (865 km2, 2.700
inhabitants/ km2) is the revitalization of the river Emscher and its tributaries. Due toindustrialization the waterbodies were systematically developed as open wastewater
sewers at the beginning of the 20th century. Economic and technical alternatives such as
closed sewer systems could not be implemented due to constant subsidence caused bymining.
The river system will be restructured, so that the Emscher will once again become a fully
functioning, continous water-based ecosystem with typical topologies and vegetation.
Therefore an ecological concept has been developed. This is based on the assumptionof a non-interrupted river as a connection from the source to the mouth. The basis fora nature-orientated transformation must therefore be a model that is able to define theoptimal waterway design from an ecological point of view. The reference condition for
the Emscher is a sandy-type river of the lowland. Though it is more or less based on a
status that existed more than 150 years ago. Studies on the feasibility of restructuring the
Emscher show, that due to coal mining, industrial and population changes the “original”
conditions can never be reached again. It will not be possible to return the Emscher to its
original, meandering state. So the reference conditions are no direct goals for the riverrestoration, but they give orientation in the planning procedure.
The ecological concept is founded of the following elements (figure 1):

Figure 1 – Ecological concept for the Emscher• The basis is a non-interrupted river as a connection line from the source to the mouth.
• “Ecological Hot Spots” are the most important structures for the ecologicaldevelopment of the river. Here a natural like configuration is possible, allowing the
Emscher to develop its river bed in a self-cultivating manner. There is enough place
to design the typical features and vegetation of a lowland river and its floodplain so
ecological priorities will be set.
• The confluence of the tributaries are important network elements structures tothe rehabilitated river system. These form the “joints” of the interlinked system of
biotopes, allowing a rapid and stable exchange of organisms.
• Adapted urban wetlands give the chance for floodplain-like-structures behind the dike.
With the connection to other water-biotopes the existing flora and fauna in the region canbe integrated.

One of the first hot spot to realize is therecreation of the Emschermouth (figure 2).

Figure 2 – Ecological Hot spot Emschermouth – Plan

The last part of the river behind theexisting wastewater treatment plant has nolonger wastewater.
The new mouth area will comprise
19 ha. There a typical lowland rivermouth with natural substrats, featuresand vegetation can be formed. A varied
mosaic of biotopes, which are typical forfloodplains (alderfloodplainforest, sedge,
typha and phragmites reed, floodgrass andpotamogeton) is expected to develop.
The vertical height difference between theriver Rhine an the river Emscher (causedby the coal mining) will be overcome in fiverock ramps. Two million m3 of native soil
has to be excavated. Half of this soil will be
used to build dikes.
Just as with the Rhine floodplains, the new
Emschermouth will usually be flooded for
80 days in the course of a year. The highwater-levels in times of flooding will makeit difficult for vegetation development due
to the high velocities predicted.
Emschergenossenschaft
Kronprinzenstraße 24
45128 Essen
Germany
Mechthild Semrau(semrau.mechthild@eglv.de),Rudolf Hurck

ECRR NEWS | 8

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
International Conference on the Status and Future of the World’s Large Rivers
This conference
has been organised
by BOKU - University of Natural
Resources and Life
Sciences, Vienna in
Vienna from 11 - 14
April 2011 (http://worldslargerivers.boku.
ac.at/wlr/) . More than 550 abstracts
have been submitted to the conference.
Out of these, 360 have been acceptedfor either oral or poster presentation.
The conference has been attended bymore than 400 participants coming from73 different nations from all over theworld.
What was most apparent is the increasing threats on large rivers across theglobe such as the huge expansion ofplans and projects to exploit at present
free-flowing and to some extent near

natural large rivers for hydropower e.g. in
the Mekong and Amazone rivers basins. In
the presentations there was attention for
the too much neglected role of sediments
in river functioning and the consequences
for societies who live in river, floodplainsand deltas. Major large rivers from all continents were addressed in the presentations. Topics covered were hydrology andhydraulics, water quality, ecology, morphology and river morphodynamics, but alsostresses and conflicting demands, restoration and integrated management. The
conference prepared a declaration. The
final version of this Vienna Declaration has
been adopted by the conference attendees
on Wednesday, 13th of April 2011. The declaration recommends that a collaborativeand multidisciplinary international initiativeis required to create the basis for a holistic,
global scientific assessment of the statusof the World’s Large Rivers (WLRs) andto promote urgently needed improved, integrated and sustainable management of
WLRs and their surrounding landscapesand basins (http://worldslargerivers.boku.
ac.at/wlr/index.php/vienna-declaration.
html). In all, it was very good that there
was a conference with a specific focus onlarge rivers. It is also clear that researchand the level of understanding do notkeep pace with the increasing rate of exploitation and modification of large rivers
for either energy production and transport. The abstracts are unfortunately notfreely available. The book of abstracts
can, however, be ordered through theconference website.

Tom Buijse, Deltares(e-mail: tom.buijse@deltares.nl )Rivers a linked ecosystems
Berlin, August 8-12, 2011

Rivers as linked ecosystems was thetheme of the 2nd Biennial Symposium of
the International Society for River Science(ISRS). The conference was hosted by
the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB; http://www.
isrs2011.igb-berlin.de) in Berlin, August
8-12, 2011. Some 130 participants attended the conference. The scope of the conference addressed the various linkages inriver ecosystems: linkages and boundaries
along river corridors, aquatic – terrestrial
linkages, biodiversity – ecosystem service
linkages as well as social – ecologicallinkages. The sessions encompassed
socio-ecology, biodiversity, biochemistry,
trophic links, restoration, assessment, patterns and processes, connectivity, biotic
and hydraulink links and hydromorphology.
The presentations covered geographically
Europe, North America, Australia and to alesser extent Asia. The key notes focusedon tidal rivers which apparently are muchless studied (Martin Doyle), the influenceof hydromorphology on Atlantic salmon(Chris Soulsby) , the impact of agriculture
on river structure and functioning (Margarita Xenopoulos), corridor and boundaries inrivers and floodplains (Jack Stanford) and the potential impact of climate change (Nikolai
Friberg) and pollution (Jianbo Chang) on river ecosystems. In all, the quality of thepresentations was very high. Of course subjectively, but presentations which especiallycaught my attention were the Nature Conservancy (Michael Reuter, David Galat) who
presented their Great River Partnership, Klement Tockner who discussed the need tofocus on real time ecology to better understand river ecosystem functioning and a first attempt for a nation-wide inventory of the floodplain quality in Germany (Matthias Scholz).
The abstracts of the conference can be downloaded from the conference website. Manuscripts will be prepared for a selection of the presentations and will in due course be published in peer-reviewed journals, but this normally takes one to two years. Altogether
I very much enjoyed attending this interesting and well organized conference.
Tom Buijse, Deltares

ECRR NEWS | 9

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
A new LIFE+ funded project was launched in Europe.
RESTORE will share knowledge andpromoting best practice on river restoration in Europe. The ECRR are working
in partnership to delivery this projectand provide advice to the partners.

RESTORE is a cost effective project protecting investment in our rivers by bringing together the best information available on river restoration techniques fromacross Europe. It will give policy makers,
river basin planners and practitioners
the practical information they need torestore rivers, improve habitats for wildlife
and help meet the objectives of the Water
Framework Directive.
The main problem affecting river restoration practitioners is not a lack of expertise, but a lack of opportunities for sharing
best practice and knowledge. The projectwill address this by holding sector-specific engagement events, field visits and amajor international conference. Anotherkey output will be an online database ofcase studies highlighting lessons learnt
and best practice, and also key project

Case studies to be included from across Europe for example: Chinbrook Meadows, London

contacts, which will continue to operate
beyond the life of the project.
The programme will run until September
2013 and has six partners from five European countries working on the project:
Environment Agency (England and Wales),Finnish Environment Institute (Finland),Government Service for Land and Water
Management (Netherlands),
Italian Centre for River Restoration (Italy),River Restoration Centre (UK)
Wetlands International (Netherlands).
We aim to understand better the importance of river restoration and the barriers
to achieving it. Then disseminate this infor-

mation through events, seminars and our
website. River restoration means working
with nature to re-establish natural river
systems. Activities which reconnect river
channels with their natural floodplain will
improve habitats and biodiversity andreduce flood risk to communities downstream.
Please contact us with any relevant information or case studies that should be
included within the project.
restore@environment-agency.gov.uk formore information see www.environmentagency.gov.uk/restore - the project website will be coming soon.

Proceedings of the IVth ECRR International Conference on River Restoration translated into Russian
From 18 -20 May 2011 the XIInternational Symposium “Clean
Waters of Russia” was held in
Yekaterinburg in the RussianFederation. During this conference
Nadezhda Prokhorova, director of
the Russian Research Institute forIntegrated Water Management andProtection (RosNIIVKh) presented
the Russian version of theproceedings book of the IVth ECRR
International Conference on River
Restoration. With this book, thearticles reflecting the present state of the art of river restorationin Europe and beyond are now also accessible for all who havea common knowledge of the Russian language, which might
help to promote river restoration in more countries and amongst
their river managers. The translation and editing was all done by
RosNIIVKh staff. The book was presented to ECRR Chairman,
Bart Fokkens, who participated in the “Clean Water of Russia” onbehalf of the European Regional Committee for the World Water
Forum 2012 to be held in Marseille, France. A copy of the bookcan be ordered by sending an e-mail to wrm@wr.ru.

ECRR NEWS | 10

ECRRNEWS - 3/2011
Events 2011/2012 relevant for ECRR
Date / periode
27-30 September
29-30 September
3-5 OctoberTitel/issue
INBO and Menbo
Waterscience meets policy
Restoration of Streams;
the houting project

Location
Porto
Brussels
Tonder, Denmark

10-14 October

Bioindication in monitoring of
freshwater ecosystems
1 Iberian Congress on RR
NCR-days
International waterweek

St Petersburg
Leon
The Netherlands
Amsterdam

Preparatory Seminar WWF-6
WWF-6
RRC conference

LjubljanaMarseille
Nottingham

18-20 October
27-28 October
29 October04 November
15-18 November
12-17 March 201219 April 2012

Links
http://www.inbo-news.org/spip.php?mot120&lang=en
http://www.onema.fr/water-science-meets-policy
http://www.snaebel.dk/konf
jukka.jormola@ymparisto.fi
http://www.ecrr.org/events-october-2011.html
http://www.restaurarios.es/
NCR2011@deltares.nl
http://www.eurekanetwork.org/c/document_library/
get_file?uuid=ef081217-4a05-4f07-bf650a8743a2536a&groupId=10137
http://www.ECRR.org
http://www.worldwaterforum6.org
http://therrc.co.uk/2012%20Conference/1st_email_announcement_RRC_ANC_13.pdf

Call for articles
The newsletter of the ECRR should also be a way to share with one another what interesting work is being done, information about seminars
or literature. One way of doing this is by writing an article of any project, event or literature you may be acquainted with. Send this article (maximum of 500 words) to the secretariat of the ECRR at info@ecrr.org.
We will take a close look to the content and if it is coherent with the philosophy of ECRR (ecological river restoration and sharing knowledge)
your article will be published with pleasure in the next edition (s) of the ECRR Newsletter. The secretariat of the ECRR hopes to receive any
article on ecological river restoration from any of its members.

Secretariat: DLG Government Service for Land and Water Management, P.O.Box 20021,
3502 LA Utrecht, The Netherlands | www.ecrr.org. Executive secretary Mr. Hil R. Kuypers.
If you do not wish to receive the ECRR newsletter in the future, please send an email to
info@ecrr.org with the subject “unsuscribe”. This will also terminate your ECRR membership.

ECRR NEWS | 11