MERLIN Webinars

The MERLIN webinar series has come to an end. There were more than 35 hours of excellent presentations by >45 experts, fruitful discussions and countless questions answered, covering a wide range of topics in the fields of economic prosperity, human wellbeing, transformative ecosystem restoration and the mainstreaming of Nature-based Solutions.

All MERLIN Webinars recordings

Training tomorrow’s restoration leaders – inside the MERLIN Academy

Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber (BOKU)

Solutions for stressed-out lakes

Laurence Carvalho (NIVA)

Blue targeting - a forestry planning tool along small streams

Daniel Thorell (Swedish Forest Agency)
Zane Lībiete (Latvia State Forest Research Institute “Silava”)

Freshwater restoration: alive and well in Europe

Lessons learned from Europe’s freshwater champions
Darwin conference highlights
Entry guide to ESP 2026 in Prague

Integrating ecosystem services in cost-benefit analysis for freshwater restoration

Sien Kok (WUR, Deltares)
Isabell Lenz (BfG)
Nicolas Grondard (WUR)

Removing barriers: how to engage policymakers in ecological restoration

Ben Delbaere
(Delbaere Consulting)

Translating knowledge into solutions: SpongeBoost for a water-resilient future

Aniela Stachnik
Iberian Centre for River Restoration (CIREF)

How Public-Private Partnerships can enhance Value for Planet and Value for People

Prof. Dr. Pedro M. das Neves
(Founder and CEO of Global Solutions 4U)

Upscaling freshwater ecosystem restoration for people and nature with Nature-based Solutions

Tom Buĳse
(Deltares, Wageningen University)

The Danish way of rewetting lowlands

Linda Udklit
(Naturstyrelsen/The Danish Nature Agency)

Upscaling Nature-based Solutions: TNC's Nature for Water program and how it can support your project

Mike Vice & Rob Cunningham
(Nature for Water Facility & Resilient Watershed Programme, The Nature Conservancy)

Advancing freshwater ecosystem restoration in Europe – an EcoAdvance perspective

Phyllis Posy (Posy Global) &Ildikó Arany (Hungarian Research Network, Centre for Ecological Research)

Unlocking the potential of Carbon Credits in freshwater and nature restoration: practical insights

Dr. Malte Schneider (Co-Founder and Managing Director AECO)

Mutual Guarantee & Environmental Sustainability: Collaborative Efforts for Green Future

José Fernando Figueiredo (Founding President of GNGI – Global Network of Guarantee Institutions)

Working with Nature-based solutions in the Nordics – going from words to actions

Leonard Sandin (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Oslo)

Ecosystem Restoration on a landscape level: how can it work in practice? - Forest Restoration Talk

Speakers from all EU Green Deal ecosystem restoration cluster projects

WaterLANDS: Upscaling co-created wetland restoration across Europe

Dr Shane Mc Guinness
(University College Dublin)

How does agriculture affect river ecology?

Christian Schürings
(University of Duisburg-Essen)

Barrier removal for river restoration: on the EU ambition of 25.000 km of free-flowing rivers

Wouter van de Bund
(European Commission – Joint Research Centre)

The Eddleston Water project – what has worked, and what have we learned about Natural Flood management and how to deliver it?

Chris J. Spray
(Tweed Forum / UNESCO Centre of Water Law, Policy & Science, University of Dundee)

Investing in nature-based solutions? – Finance for nature in Europe

Stephen Hart (European Investment Bank)

Transforming Freshwater Restoration through Nature-based Solutions - Working with Six Economic Sectors

Kirsty Blackstock (James Hutton Institute)

Give me five peatland restoration strategies

Dominik Henrik Zak (Institute of Ecoscience, Aarhus University)

State of European freshwaters - Restoration needs and potentials

Paulo Branco (Forest Research Centre)

HORA 3D risk assessment tool

Thomas Hlatky (GRAWE)

Upscaling freshwater ecosystem restoration: the MERLIN approach (part 1)

Tom Buijse (Deltares)

Practical applications of Nature-based Solutions in river restoration and management

Hamish Moir (cbec)

Nature Impact Tokens as a means unlock "nature positive" investment

Paul Jepson – (creditnature Ltd)

The EU nature restoration law: an opportunity for scaling-up the restoration of freshwater ecosystems.

Claire Baffert (WWF European Policy Office) & Eva Mayerhofer (European Investment Bank)

Strategic Monitoring to Learn from Nature-Based Solutions and Natural Infrastructure Projects

Dr. Charles B. van Rees (University of Georgia)

Corporate and private funding - its value for conservation

Louis Costa (MAVA Foundation)

Freeing rivers – restoration strategies in the state of Maine & implications for expanding the movement in Europe

Joshua L. Royte (The Nature Conservancy)

Monitoring and Evaluation of Nature-Based Solutions – thinking outside the box!

Kerry Waylen (James Hutton Institute)

Rewilding rivers in the Odra catchment – What is rewilding and why is it important?

Peter Torkel (Rewilding Oder Delta - Team Leader Poland)

Wetland restoration – Holy Grail or opening Pandora’s box of vector-borne and zoonotic disease risk?

Frauke Ecke (SLU)

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Insights from IPBES and IPCC Intergovernmental Processes

Josef Settele (UFZ)

Why freshwater ecosystem restoration makes (economic) sense

Sien Kok (Deltares) & Sanja Prokrajac (WWF)