MERLIN Podcast: Bringing Europe’s freshwaters back to life26 Mai 2025

Communicating why freshwater restoration is vital

Restoring our natural ecosystems is a task that is never really finished: science progresses; governments change; technology advances; society shifts; funding pots appear and disappear. And all the time, our rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands are a constant; their fate determined by the choices we make about them. In a time of rapid ecological loss and the ongoing climate emergency, it can be hard to think hopefully about the future of our ecosystems.

In this podcast we hear from four inspirational young scientists who are helping restore Europe’s freshwaters, and with it, hope for the future of our natural world. The four scientists all work on the EU MERLIN project, but each have their own research focus. They are Miriam Colls Lozano from the University of the Basque Country, Andrea Schneider from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Viviane Cavalcanti from DELTARES and Joselyn Verónica Arreaga Espin from BOKU.

We hear about the challenges of bringing disparate communities together through freshwater restoration, fostering exchange and collaboration between different communities, thinking creatively about funding restoration in the future, and strategies for bringing the public and policy makers on board with ambitious restoration programmes. The thread that runs through all these themes is the need for good communication in fostering positive change for the future.

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Episoder(16)

Four years, 18 sites, one mission: bringing Europe's freshwaters back to life

In March 2026, MERLIN scientific coordinator Daniel Hering stood before a Brussels room full of European policymakers and set out what four years of freshwater restoration had found. The evidence is c...

21 Apr 34min

How do you mainstream freshwater restoration across an entire continent?

The Nature Restoration Regulation is now European law. National Restoration Plans are being written. The targets are set. So why does transformative, large-scale ecological restoration remain so stubb...

7 Apr 45min

How can water-friendly farming be mainstreamed in Europe?

Freshwater restoration should be at the heart of how farming is managed in Europe, according to new recommendations.Reshaping the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to support freshwater ecosystems by e...

15 Jan 20min

Sharing cutting-edge information on freshwater restoration in the MERLIN Academy

In this podcast we take a tour of the MERLIN Academy, an online platform which offers free resources and training to support researchers, practitioners and policy makers in applying cutting-edge fresh...

19 Nov 202530min

How nature-based solutions can support people and nature in freshwater restoration

Harnessing the potential of natural processes in freshwater restoration can create significant ecological, social and economic benefits, according to a major new report. Researchers from the MERLIN pr...

21 Aug 202523min

Restoring Europe's landscapes through the Green Deal and Nature Restoration Law

In this podcast we take a behind the scenes look at environmental restoration in Europe on the cusp of what will likely prove to be a transformative year. First, we find out about the EU’s big environ...

23 Jan 202544min

Why community matters to freshwater restoration

It's increasingly recognised that restoring damaged ecosystems is not only about improving habitats for wildlife, it is also vital to consider the needs of the people who live and work in a restoratio...

28 Okt 202458min