Stimulating rivers restoration to enhance the quality of life

Introduction

Despite ambitious goals of the water-related legislation, traditional engineering approaches, urbanization, agriculture, and water overuse continue to destroy river ecosystem functions and cause biodiversity loss. This results in diminished provision of ecosystem services to people. As seen during recent catastrophic events in Slovenia, engineering is often not sufficient to prevent climate change-driven floods, and other solutions are needed.

Project Goals

LIFE2RIVERS aims to initiate a transformative change in how we perceive, manage, and protect Slovenian rivers. This shift will focus on co-creative river stewardship, where rivers will be maintained and/or restored for the benefit of nature and people.

Supporting Public Administration

We will support public administration’s decision-making by challenging existing paradigms and public discourses through a range of targeted capacity-building activities using the concept of co-creative river stewardship. Thus, we will support the goals of:

1. The European Green Deal
2. The Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
3. The Water Framework Directive
4. All related legislation

Capacity Building Activities

First, we will enhance transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation through:

• 4 training courses for engineers and field operatives
• 3 webinars on nature-based solutions (NBS) and river restoration (RR)
• An International Student Summer Camp
• An International Conference
• A Manual on co-creative river stewardship

Second, we will build capacity and trust in co-creative river stewardship, NBS, and RR implementation projects among government, academia, and industry through:

• 7 field excursions
• Establishing an innovative communication form, the Chamber of Ecologists, which will set professional and ethical standards for river management

Public Participation

Finally, we will remedy public participation by raising awareness, understanding, and trust in NBS and RR. This will be achieved by demonstrating the co-creative river stewardship process in the Pšata catchment, organizing:

• 24 EcoAdventure Days
• Distributing a thematic board game to all Slovenian schools