REFORM Stakeholder Workshop on River Restoration (Brussels, 26-27 February 2013)

On 26-27 February 2013, the REFORM project will hold a technical and interactive Stakeholder Workshop on River Restoration to Support Effective Catchment Management in Brussels.

The workshop will serve as a platform for consultation and exchange between REFORM scientists, European technical experts working on river degradation and restoration, and members of the WFD CIS WG A Ecological Status (ECOSTAT).

Specifically, the workshop is aimed at experts involved in river basin management planning and participants with a good technical understanding of the methods used in their respective countries to assess hydromorphological alterations, their ecological impacts, and restoration measures that can reverse or mitigate these. The event is planned for 120 participants.

At this event, first results of the REFORM project will be presented and invited experts can give their feedback during interactive breakout sessions on how REFORM can contribute to the next round of River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) by creating tools and approaches for managing the different types of rivers and pressures across Europe.

Keynote speeches will be given by the REFORM partners, the ECOSTAT leaders, the EEA, the WISER project, and the Life+RESTORE project, among others.

You will find the draft version of the workshop programme at: http://reformrivers.eu/events/stakeholder-workshop/programme.

The workshop will include presentations on the following:

  • An overview of the initial outcomes of REFORM to support the drafting of the 2nd River Basin Management Plans
  • Feedback on assessment methods and measures for river restoration in the 1st River Basin Management Plans
  • Methods for understanding the root causes of degradation and specifying the expected outcome of restoration
  • Reporting on tools for assessing the effectiveness of restoration for river basin planning considering project scale and catchment status
  • Discussion of a European multi-scale ecohydromorphological assessment framework (prioritisation of assessments in different scales)
  • Knowledge sharing on hydromorphological degradation and restoration 
  • Dissemination of information about related European research projects and activities and their relationship to REFORM

Breakout sessions for interactive discussion will address the following themes:

  • Highland/midland river systems
  • Lowland river systems
  • Mediterranean river systems
  • Unraveling the impact of hydromorphological pressures in multiple-pressure settings
  • Designing programmes of measures
  • Dealing with heavily modified water bodies

The breakout sessions will address REFORM’s outputs and plans for the next stages of the project and also reflect on relevant activities in the Member States and other European countries.

For further information about the workshop, please consult the workshop website (http://www.reformrivers.eu/events/stakeholder-workshop) or contact the workshop secretariat at: reform-workshop@ecologic-events.eu

For further information: 

Eleftheria Kampa