
Mainstreaming Ecological Restoration of freshwater-related ecosystems in a Landscape context: INnovation, upscaling and transformation
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.
Comments on the draft Nature Restoration Law

compiled by the EU-funded projects MERLIN, REST-COAST, SUPERB, WaterLANDS and PONDERFUL
Five large EU-funded research projects, all operating at the science-policy interface, jointly analysed the text of the draft Nature Restoration Law. The involved projects include the four projects funded under the Green Deal (Horizon2020) Area 7 topic “Restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services”, and represent 168 institutions working at the interface of environmental science, application and policy.
The recommendations listed below result from a science-policy workshop hold in Brussels on 25th November 2022 that was organised by the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission and DG R&I, and attended by the project coordinators and by representatives of EEA, JRC, DG-ENV, DG-AGRI, DG-MARE, DG-REGIO and DG-CLIMA.
Join us at the MERLIN Innovation Awards ceremony!

Merlin Innovation Awards (MIA) is an initiative launched by European Union's flagship project, Merlin. The MIA recognizes new, widely applicable solutions for restoring the functions of freshwater ecosystems or enabling their financial benefit of.
The best innovative solutions will be selected in two categories: the MIA Product of the year and the MIA Service of the year.
MERLIN webinars

The MERLIN project is offering a monthy webinar-series on (freshwater) restoration-related topics.
Next webinar #10: Februay 06, 2023, 15h (CET)
Paul Jepson – Nature Impact Tokens as a means unlock "nature positive" investment
Dr. Paul Jepson is Head of Innovation and Science at CreditNature Ltd, in this webinar, Paul will outline progress on efforts to create markets for nature recovery.
... large-scale river and floodplain restoration investments can provide a major economic boost for the restoration sector and for local socioeconomic activities such as tourism and recreation ...