Natural solutions for our rivers?

‘ResiRiver’ is a new Interreg North West Europe project focusing on the creation of resilient river systems through the mainstreaming and upscaling of Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

NIWE member Rijkswaterstaat (RWS), assembled a partnership that covers river systems in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands and on 27-28 June 2023 held their inaugural kick-off event in Arnhem. Partners laid the foundations for mainstreaming NbS in riverine systems across the region. On 26-27 October, the official kick-off meeting took place in Nijmegen.

This will be an excellent project to follow, and we expect many of their outcomes to be of value to NIWE members seeking further ways to safeguard the vital, natural assets we’re responsible for.

Other NIWE members involved are VNF whose main role is to establish organisational policies to support NbS across its network and to assess the financial viability of these solutions. They will share their expertise in riverbank restorations using plant techniques, provide training materials and knowledge, and contribute to the development of policy recommendations and the dissemination of good practices.

In addition to leading the project, RWS will conduct 3 Nbs mainstreaming pilots: Nourishment Meuse estuary, Integral River Management – Rhine River, and Ecological Habitat Restoration in the Rhine Meuse estuary

The University of Liège who played an important role in Green WIN are also involved applying their modelling tools to support project objectives. In addition to several other tasks, they will simulate the effects of NbS in various pilot sites, provide quantitative indicators for cost-benefit analysis and visuals for communication.