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Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

BOKU

Die Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, die Alma Mater Viridis, versteht sich als Lehr- und Forschungsstätte für erneuerbare Ressourcen, die eine Voraussetzung für das menschliche Leben sind.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Maxi Espeter (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen), Taru Haapaniemi (Cabinet of Commissioner Christophe Hansen) and

11 Jun 2025 · Water Resilience Strategy: water-related challenges and how to bring new innovations and skills onto the market

Response to European Water Resilience Strategy

3 Mar 2025

Freshwater biodiversity loss, water scarcity, pollution, floods, and droughts exert growing pressure on humanity and ecosystems, which provide the essential ecosystem services that sustain our society and economy. This underscores the urgent need for a robust and holistic Water Resilience Strategy (WRS). To enhance water resilience, the strategy should prioritize restoring a near-natural landscape water balance across Europe, focusing on synergies between nature conservation, water management, floodplain protection, climate protection, and climate adaptation. We want to highlight several key points of policy intersection that can support an integrated approach to water resilience: Ecosystem Restoration and Protection: The Nature Restoration Regulation mandates binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems in protected and unprotected landscapes across ecosystem types. The WRS can complement this by focusing on restoring and protecting aquatic ecosystems, which are crucial for maintaining biodiversity and ensuring the resilience of water resources. Additionally, the WRS should introduce interdisciplinary guidance on transforming todays drainage landscapes into sponge landscapes that absorb water during excess supply and make it available during dry periods. Integration with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030: This strategy aims to protect nature and reverse ecosystem degradation, including commitments to restore at least 25,000 kilometers of rivers to a free-flowing state and reduce pollution from excess nutrients. The WRS can support this by implementing measures that enhance water quality and promote the natural flow of rivers, like obsolete dam removal, benefiting both water resilience and biodiversity. Cross-Sectoral Policy Alignment: The success of the WRS and biodiversity initiatives depends on harmonizing policies across sectors such as agriculture, urban development, and industry. E.g. adopting sustainable agricultural practices can reduce water pollution, benefiting aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity. The WRS can serve as a framework to align these sectoral policies with environmental objectives. To ensure actionable outcomes supporting biodiversity, nature conservation, and a near-natural water balance, the WRS must include: Dedicated Funding Mechanisms: Implementing large-scale water and ecosystem restoration projects necessitates substantial investment. While existing programs like the LIFE Programme support environmental and climate lighthouse actions, the WRS should advocate for dedicated public and private funding streams, to invest in water resilience projects that also enhance biodiversity. Clear Implementation Guidelines: To translate strategic objectives into actionable outcomes, the WRS should provide detailed guidelines for Member States, ensuring that water management practices consistently align with biodiversity conservation goals. Monitoring and Enforcement: Establishing robust monitoring systems is essential to tracking progress and ensuring compliance with restoration targets. The WRS should outline mechanisms for regular assessment and enforcement to maintain accountability. It should build on the monitoring already required for the WFD. The European Water Resilience Strategy is an essential initiative with significant potential to advance biodiversity and nature conservation efforts. By aligning its objectives with existing frameworks like the NRR and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and addressing gaps in funding, implementation, and enforcement, the WRS can contribute to a more resilient and ecologically diverse Europe. Initiatives by the WRS should help remove barriers to full implementation of the WFD. Resources available for identifying priority habitats, species and areas for restoration and assessing co-benefits and socio-economic are the European projects NaturaConnect, MERLIN, WaterLANDS, REST- COAST and Land4Climate.
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Meeting with Camilla Bursi (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius) and Itä-Suomen yliopisto

24 Jun 2021 · To discuss forest management and carbon cycle

Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and Itä-Suomen yliopisto

24 Jun 2021 · forest management and carbon cycle