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Restoration Platform: an important hub

November 22, 2017 | Andres Jordi

According to a survey conducted by Eawag, around 45 per cent of all actors in the Swiss water sector are concerned in some way with river restoration. Here, a key role in facilitating the sharing of experience and knowledge is played by the Water Agenda 21 (WA 21) Restoration Platform, established three years ago, and in particular by the River Restoration Working Group (AG Renat). River restoration often involves complex, long‑term, interdisciplinary projects, requiring close cooperation between a wide variety of actors. Experience has shown that about half are public-sector actors, ranging from the federal to the communal level. The others include private planning consultancies, hydropower operators and NGOs, as well as interested parties and members of the public. An opportunity for dialogue among restoration professionals was also provided by the recent well-attended WA 21 Conference on “River Restoration”, where possible approaches were discussed on the basis of case studies from Switzerland and abroad.