Advancing freshwater restoration

It takes real vison to understand that it is the people -- the individuals - who make a difference..whether by new ideas, pushing important missions forward day by day, overcoming obstacles to restoration and SDGs, not allowing the barriers to stop improvements, thinking around the obstacles, creating new pathways to focus attention on restoring freshwaters and our ecosystems. Good for you Inger Andersen! Please publish their names so their friends and associates can congratulate them on their accomplishments!

We at EcoAdvance (Horizon Europe) are focusing on the people who are making Freshwater Ecosystem Restoration happen. Join our consultation to help move things forward: www.ecoadvance.eu 

EcoAdvance is very proud of partner Helmut Habersack, winner of the 2023 Austrian of the Year in Research. Helmut's contributions to Austria are epitomized by the new University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) river research Laboratory that enables full scale studies of rivers and their dynamics using the Danube River – just the kinds of research we need to drive improvements in navigation and ecological restoration of the world's critical freshwater ecosystems.

The award process starts with nominations and public voting to narrow the field to three finalists; a jury of experts selects the winner. Helmut, who chaired the Vienna Water Conferences this past summer, said he was surprised to win.  Colleagues Marcel Liedermann and Martin Glas share champaign with Helmut, students and lab staff as they celebrate the award. Austrian Television ORF will broadcast the highlights of the gala, which was accompanied by “Im Zentrum” presenter Claudia Reiterer, on ORF2 on the October 26th, an Austrian national holiday, at 11 p.m.

The world is in the midst of unprecedented planetary crises, and urgency is paramount. To address biodiversity loss and mitigate the severe impacts of #ClimateChange, ambitious action is needed - without delay.

Freshwater Ecosystem Restoration is Key – which is why we at EcoAdvance (Horizon Europe) are joining forces with UNDP at the #NatureForLife Hub, November 7-9.

We will be part of their series of transformative events. Our presentation focuses on individuals making an impact – it can be done. Each of us can play a part.

Hear people who have done it and do it every day: Avi Uzan, Shiri Firdman Carme Machí Castañer; Savvas Zotos; Mark Horton MBE. Together, we'll explore ways to reshape and restore our relationship with nature.

Now is the time to act. Together, let's forge a sustainable future.
Register here: https://bit.ly/NfLHub2023 

Calling for Stakeholder input on centralizing Danube governance structures to optimize impact and uptake of innovative solutions.
A good idea? How? When?

#EcoDalli is holding 2 workshops on the topic to dovetail with the three themes of Europe’s #Ocean Mission.
And it is coordinated with the #12Annual Forum of the EUSDR team European Strategy for the Danube Region.

Join Mirjam Zillober, Albert Scrieciu, Carmen Neagu, Filip Jurić, Dragos Balaican, Maria Tzankova, Youssef Zaiter, Ph.D. to share and learn how we can  improve ecological restoration, protection and preservation of the Danube basin, Danube Delta and Black Sea.

Mark your calendars for October 25 2023, from 9:30 to 12:30 (CEST) - organized by ICLEI Europe and ADRM, to be held as a parallel event within the 12th EUSDR Annual Forum, at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Kidričeva cesta 55a, 4000 Kranj, Slovenia.
Link for in-person registration:
https://lnkd.in/eW5Eir5C 
Link for online registration: https://lnkd.in/enp_KQJc 
                      
#FreshwaterEcosystems #DanubeRestoration

Last week, the Vienna Water Conferences (40th International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) World Congress, 5th World's Large Rivers, and the 30th Conference of the Danubian Countries) were held in Vienna, Austria. With over 1300 participants, the conferences were a remarkable experience of learning, networking, and celebrating.
 
The conferences were kicked-off with the Opening Ceremony which brought together a diverse group of speakers from politics and science!

We had a chance to hear some great speakers, including Aurea Perucho from the Centre for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works (CEDEX), Eva Schulev-Steindl from BOKU, Ernst Woller - Austrian state parliament President, Günter Liebel from the General Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Regions and Water Management, Helmut Habersack from BOKU who is also a member of EcoAdvance (Horizon Europe), and Joseph Lee - IAHR President.

The sustainability and restoration challenges were the top agenda items: how do we match the science, the political-economic realities and restoration? How do we expand what we think we can do to get closer to what we MUST do?

Is that on your agenda? If so share  your thoughts in the comments and register on our website - https://lnkd.in/df5niGJp 

COMING UP Thursday the 24 at 9am at Session ID 11517 at the Stockholm Water Week – a bonanza for business – take the angst out of figuring out how and how much to disclose about your water use and targets.

Introducing the Freshwater Accountability Navigator (FAN), a streamlined and interactive guidance that supports business in the application of the various frameworks and standards for responding to customer and regulator demand for information about your water practices.
The Freshwater Accountability Navigator (FAN) had its original debut at the UN 2023 Water Conference back in March – now the rollout and scale up!

It is an online interactive tool being developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (in collaboration with Quantis) to guide companies on which water-related frameworks and tools to use to drive more accountable water stewardship action across their value chain. The tool will be available to companies for regular use by the end of 2023 and this session will give attendees an opportunity to look under the hood and provide feedback to help the FAN create a common understanding of what ‘good’ corporate accountability for #freshwater looks like.

Other organizations have supported the development too, including:
Capitals Coalition
Global Commons Alliance
World Benchmarking Alliance
EcoAdvance (Horizon Europe) is taking a holistic view of freshwater ecosystem restoration and urging businesses to do the same! More good stewardship of freshwater ecosystems will require less restoration down the road!

#worldwaterweek
 

Astonishing Consensus and Call to action from 96 #freshwater leaders in Europe including Peter Haase, Ellen A. R. Welti Florian Altermatt, roberta bottarin, Miguel Cañedo-Argüelles, Thibault DATRY, Gerald Dörflinger, Vesela Evtimova, and Iakovos Tziortzis.

What do you think? Is that how you see EU progress in freshwater restoration? Join the conversation!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ecoadvance-horizon-europe_nature-freshwater-biodiversity-recovery-activity-7098022108403818496-LwdU?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop 

This year’s theme, Seeds of Change: 'Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World' has 3 important sessions on Freshwater ecosystem restoration, and it is not a moment too soon, with Freshwater Ecosystems suffering disproportionately around the world.

Thanks to campaigns by leading environmentalists, inland waters are now explicitly included in the Global Biodiversity Framework. But here’s the big challenge: Join August 20th at 14:00 (Sweden time) with Mariana Nava from Mexico to focus on implementation and how it can be accomplished. Hear from experts from around the world what a successful GBF implementation for inland waters will take: Join Session 10903, Multi-sectoral opportunities for freshwater outcomes in the Global Biodiversity Framework to learn about the new tools, datasets, guidance in development.

It is easy to register and on-line attendance is free: https://lnkd.in/dMQD4zZE 

Don’t have time to go through the whole program to find the Freshwater-relevant sessions? Check back on this page to find out what else is happening…

#WorldWaterWeek #freshwater

Conservation International
IUCN
Synchronicity Earth
The Nature Conservancy
Wetlands International
WWF