Europe's environment is in an alarming state, with climate change expected to further aggravate the situation. This poses severe threats to economic prosperity, human wellbeing and social peace – our society needs systemic transformative change. Ecosystem restoration is key to this change, and freshwaters play an important role: the restoration of streams, rivers, peatlands and wetlands has a long tradition and offers an extensive knowledge base – freshwaters are ideal demonstrators of the necessary change. The MERLIN project commits to transformative ecosystem restoration, mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions for the urgent systemic change of our society.
Demonstrating best-practice restoration: For 17 flagship restoration projects across Europe, MERLIN explores social, economic and environmental success factors, generating a blueprint for the proficient implementation of Nature-based Solutions suited for immediate replication. With investing more than 10 million € in further hands-on upscaling measures, MERLIN upgrades these 17 projects into radiant beacons of innovation for the systemic change.
Upscaling into broader landscapes: MERLIN identifies landscapes with high potential and priority for transformative restoration, particularly focusing on essential ecosystem services, biodiversity targets, and climate change mitigation and adaption. MERLIN illustrates environmental value chains as well as costs and benefits of Nature-based Solutions for selected European regions. This economic analysis demonstrates the opportunities for green business resulting from transformative restoration.
Engaging with investors and economic sectors: MERLIN delineates models for private investment into restoration alongside public funding, tailored to contexts specific for economic sectors and countries.
MERLIN’s initiatives maximise synergies across economic sectors, and transparently mediate trade-offs where necessary.
Win-win solutions to mainstream restoration: MERLIN closely collaborates with local communities and key economic sectors such as agriculture, water supply, navigation and insurance industry. Main focus is to co-develop win-win solutions spearheading systemic economic, social and environmental change.
MERLIN Marketplace and Academy: The MERLIN Marketplace connects restoration actors, offers restoration-related services, and brokers restoration financing. The MERLIN Academy multiplies the knowledge to mainstream freshwater restoration, addressing the community of practice, restoration project convenors, communities, investors and policy makers.
Partners in MERLIN: MERLIN is a ‘research and innovation action’ funded under the European Commission’s H2020 programme. MERLIN involves 45 partners from across Europe, including universities, research institutes, nature conservation organisations, and stakeholders from business, government, and municipalities.
- Name of organisation
- Aquatic Ecology, University of Duisburg-Essen
- Type of organisation
- Research and academia
- Type of action proposed
- Research and innovation
- The action contributes to the following objective or enabler
- Protect and restore marine and freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity
- List of Partners
Universitaet Duisburg-Essen
Aqua Publica Europea
Aarhus University
Bundesanstalt fuer Gewaesserkunde
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
Município de Ponte de Lima
Connectology Unipessoal Limitada
Stichting Deltares
Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa
Direção-Geral de Agricultura e Desenvolvimento Rural
Ecologic Institut gemeinnützige GmbH
Emschergenossenschaft
Institutul National de Cercetare
I-Catalist, S.L.
Catalan Institute for Water Research
International Peatland Society
Instituto Superior de Agronomia
The James Hutton Institute
Kampinos National Park
Kishon river and drainage authority
Scottish Natural Heritage
Naturland
Nature agency, Himmerland
Centre for Ecological Research
Oppla EEIG
Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
Rijkswaterstaat
Schnee auf Moss Werbeagentur GmbH
Swedish Forest Agency
Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie
Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet
Suomen Ymparistokeskus
Tapio Ldt
Tel Aviv University
Helmoltz - Zentrum fuer Umweltforschung GmbH
Universiteit Gent
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
University of Stirling
via donau - Österreichische Wasserstraßen-Gesellschaft mbH
Wageningen Universiteit
WWF Adria
WWF Hungary
WWF Romania
- Start date of the action
- End date of the action
- Budget allocated for the action
- 21000000
- Basin coverage
- Cross-basin
- Website link
- sbirk20@googlemail.com
- Country
- AustriaBelgiumDenmarkFinlandGermanyHungaryIsraelNetherlandsPolandPortugalSpainSwedenUnited Kingdom
- Other country
- Bosnia and Herzegovina