Upscaling restoration entails restoring degraded ecosystems at a large scale and is urgently needed to respond to the biodiversity and climate crises. In the MERLIN project, upscaling of freshwater ecosystem restoration is taken forward through Regional Scalability Plans (RSPs) that extend restoration activities to a wider landscape and entail long-term planning (2025-2050). During 2021-2024 each of the 18 MERLIN case studies has co-designed an RSP with their key stakeholders. The RSP design incorporates Nature-based Solutions thinking to ensure multiple benefits to the environment and society. By addressing the main freshwater ecosystems (large rivers, small streams, peatlands and wetlands) in different European countries, the RSPs aim to serve as inspiration for restoration practitioners and policy makers and other key stakeholders throughout Europe.

To make sense of the complex and diverse contexts, the RSPs follow a common framework and answer questions regarding WHY, WHERE, WHAT, HOW and WHO on freshwater restoration. In understanding the WHY, the RSPs link to EU Green Deal goals, making the RSP goals holistic, science-based and policy-relevant. In terms of WHERE, the plans range from regional to national level. For WHAT, RSPs identify a wide set of practical measures to be taken in the field, measures oriented towards policies and practices and measures related to public involvement. The HOW question is answered through timeline and budget plans. Regarding WHO, stakeholder engagement is crucial for mainstreaming restoration into policies and practices and thus RSPs involve diverse public, private and civil society actors at national, regional and local levels. In recent years, restoration has been a politically contested topic. The RSPs show that despite political and economic turmoil, co-creating ambitious restoration plans with key stakeholders is possible.