The Netherlands Centre for River Studies (NCR)
and RIZA, the Institute for Inland Water Management
and Waste Water Treatment (www.riza.nl)
will host an international conference on lowland river rehabilitation, and
invite participation by river scientists, managers and policy makers.
First Announcement, Call for Preregistration and Abstract Submission
LOWLAND
RIVER REHABILITATION 2003
Wageningen, the Netherlands, September
29 – October 2, 2003.
Conference theme
“Rehabilitating natural dynamics, landscapes and biodiversity in large
regulated lowland rivers: opportunities and constraints, costs and benefits”
"The
regulated Rhine near Wageningen"
Scope and objectives of the conference
Regulating rivers has reduced the natural
dynamic processes, altered the landscape and its biodiversity. Along large
rivers that serve manifold functions, rehabilitation attempts have recovered
stretches or certain features, but complete restoration probably will be an utopia. How sustainable or effective are we so far; how
well did we assess our achievements; what are the costs and benefits,
opportunities and constraints, the end-points?
Target groups and size of the conference
Target groups are scientists, managers, policy
makers and environmental NGOs affiliated with river rehabilitation. We aim at a
small-sized conference (± 100
participants), where participants will be selected based on preliminary registration
(deadline 15 February 2003). Selection
criteria are …
1)
Topic of the
presentation,
2)
Geographic region (Europe / North America), and
3)
The role or
expertise in river rehabilitation
(scientist/manager/policy maker/environmental NGO etc.)
… in order to achieve
a balanced composition in presentations and participants. The programme will
cover 3 days of presentations and a mid-conference excursion focussing on river
rehabilitation and other large river functions.
Large rivers with multiple functions in Europe and North America
The conference will focus on large temperate lowland rivers and their
floodplains in Europe and North America, with the aim of building upon
advancements made in both continents. Although Europe and North America are
equally faced by the logistical, socio-political, and economic challenges of
rehabilitating their many environmentally-degraded rivers, there has been
insufficient exchange of information on experiences and techniques in
rehabilitation. The conference will focus on large rivers because they share
similar functions (navigation, flood protection, hydropower), which restricts
their ecological rehabilitation.
"River
dunes designed by floods and wind"
Multi-/Interdisciplinary and quantitative studies; Good examples and best practices; References and end-points; Science transfer
A wide variety of papers dealing with lowland river rehabilitation are
welcomed at this conference. We are especially interested in attracting multi-
and interdisciplinary papers (ecohydrology, ecomorphology etc.) that link abiotic
patterns (riverine landscapes) and processes (hydro/morphodynamics, flood
pulses) to biodiversity. We believe that multi-/interdisciplinary research is
the most efficient way science can contribute to river/floodplain conservation
and rehabilitation, but excellent monodisciplinary
studies presenting new and significant aspects of these research areas are also
welcomed. The following is a list of some of the many appropriate topics for
this conference:
1. Studies that relate the
present state with reference conditions and especially end-points of river
restoration. [How are such end-points agreed upon (science, management,
policy)? Are they fixed or flexible? How interact
socio-economics aspects?]
2. Studies that address time
and spatial scales of large river rehabilitation (ecological networks,
corridors, recovery time)
3. Good examples (approach,
planning, execution, and assessment) of rehabilitation that can serve as best
practices for other rivers or reaches.
4. Studies assessing
rehabilitation projects
- Main channel measures (dam removal, incision control, hydrological
control, remeandering, riparian zone/river bank
recovery, …)
- Floodplain measures (side channels, passive/active flooding, land use
changes, embankment/dike relocation, retention areas, by-passes, …)
- Managing of flow & sediment regimes
5.
Means to promote efficient science transfer. [Do river managers,
environmental NGOs and scientists appear to live in different worlds or do they
successfully cooperate?]
Multidisciplinary river
teams (ecology, morphology, hydrology, management, environmental NGO)
While we expect many papers to be based on individual research projects,
contributions from multidisciplinary teams working on broad reaches of rivers (e.g. Danube, Elbe, Mississippi,
Missouri, Rhine, Rhone) are welcomed. Such teams could
include participants with various backgrounds (ecology, morphology, hydrology,
socio-economics, management, environmental NGO) presenting the pros and cons,
successes and failures of their approaches for river rehabilitation from
several viewpoints.
Research agenda
After evaluating presentations at the meeting, a pre-selected group of participants will make recommendations at the end of the conference for a future research agenda on lowland river research and rehabilitation.
Proceedings
Peer-reviewed papers will be published in a
special Archiv für Hydrobiologie - Large River supplement (http://www.schweizerbart.de/j/archiv-hydrobiologie)
to be ready one year after the symposium (October 2004).
"The
'Wageningse Berg': a glacial relict bordering on the
floodplains of the River Rhine"
Venue
The conference centre (www.wageningseberg.com) is situated on a 50 m hill top with excellent view over the Rhine and
its floodplains. Wageningen (35 000 inhabitants) is a
lively town, and situated in a beautiful part of the Netherlands bordered by
forests to the North and the river Rhine landscape to the South. It can easily
be reached with public transport; for example Wageningen
is less than two hours by train and bus from the international airport in
Amsterdam.
Time schedule
·
December 2002 – First
announcement
·
Preliminary registration,
submission of abstracts for oral/poster presentations – 15 February 2003
·
2nd Announcement,
notification of acceptance of participation and presentation – 15 March 2003
·
Final registration, hotel
reservation and prepayment – 1 May 2003
·
Submission of full papers –
29 September 2003 at the start of the conference
·
Publication of AfH Large River supplement– October 2004
"Conservation:
an aged and low dynamic floodplain lake"
Costs
The registration fee will be specified in the 2nd
announcement, and will include excursion, welcome party and farewell dinner.
The organisers will try to reduce payments for students and participants from
central and eastern Europe.
Hotel accommodation (incl. breakfast) - € 50 –
90 per night for single or double rooms.
Organising Committee
|
Name |
Organisation |
E-mail |
|
Tom Buijse |
RIZA |
|
|
Frans Klijn |
WL|Delft Hydraulics |
|
|
Rob Leuven |
University of Nijmegen |
|
|
Hans
Middelkoop |
Utrecht
University |
|
|
Ad van Os |
Netherlands Centre for River Studies |
|
|
Marten Scheffer |
Wageningen University & Research Centre |
|
|
Fritz Schiemer |
University of Vienna |
|
|
James Thorp |
University of Kansas |
|
|
Henk Wolfert |
Alterra |
Advisory Board
|
Name |
Organisation |
|
Willem-Jan Goossen |
Ministry of Transport, Public Works &
Water Management, Directorate-General Water |
|
Joan
van der Velden |
Rijkswaterstaat Regional
Directorate Zuid-Holland |
|
Saskia Janssen |
Rijkswaterstaat Regional Directorate
Limburg |
|
Frank Kok |
Rijkswaterstaat Regional
Directorate Oost-Nederland |
|
Bart Fokkens |
Management Board ECRR,
RIZA |
“Rehabilitation:
a re-opened side channel”
More information
All communication will be by e-mail. Please
download the pre-registration
form and/or abstract
form or contact the following (or any other member of the organising
committee)
Tom Buijse
RIZA
P.O. Box 17, 8200 AA Lelystad
e-mail: a.d.buijse@riza.rws.minvenw.nl