MERLIN Academy launches free course on freshwater restoration
The EU MERLIN project has today launched a new, open-access learning module on implementing freshwater restoration. Across 62 lessons, the module – hosted on the MERLIN Academy – guides visitors through the policy, management and assessment of the restoration of rivers, lakes and wetlands.
The new learning module includes a range of fact-sheets, videos and quizzes produced by leading restoration scientists. It begins by introducing the key policies – including the EU Green Deal and Nature Restoration Law – that structure and guide restoration efforts in Europe. Central to this theme is the idea of using natural processes to implement restoration projects – a set of approaches known as nature-based solutions.
The module continues by outlining the key concepts – such as River Basin Management and Regional Scalability planning – which underpin how freshwater restoration is planned and implemented. A vital component of this theme is the challenge of ‘scaling up’ restoration from individual sites to whole river basins.
“MERLIN learns a lot from close collaboration with restoration cases on the ground,” says MERLIN coordinator Dr Sebastian Birk from UDE in Germany. “These experiences have shaped the design of the Academy, resulting in knowledge that is robust and actionable.”
This learning theme leads into a series of resources around designing and implementing effective restoration monitoring programs which can track the progress of a restoration project. This is an important process, not only for monitoring how nature recovery is taking place, but also tracking the benefits it produces to people.
This feeds into the final theme of the new learning module, which offers resources to help users assess the impacts of restoration on both people and nature. In particular, this theme highlights environmental criteria such as biodiversity, free-flowing rivers and climate resilience which are designated by European policies.
“Nature restoration is not just about biodiversity benefits,” says module coordinator Dr Laurence Carvalho from NIVA in Norway. “This module provides you with the knowledge to measure the co-benefits, and trade-offs, for society and the economy.”
The MERLIN Academy offers free, cutting-edge learning resources to help support and train new generations of restoration managers and scientists. The new module follows another released earlier this year which explores the economics and financing of freshwater restoration.
The MERLIN Academy instructors are experts with deep experience of freshwater ecology, restoration, nature-based solutions, policy and economics. Drawn from academic institutions, NGOs and private companies, their expertise is offered freely as a means of supporting positive change through freshwater restoration, both in Europe and globally.
“Something I really appreciate is that this tool is freely accessible, which makes education and the MERLIN knowledge inclusive for any person with an internet connection,” says Joselyn Arreaga Espin, developer of the MERLIN Academy.
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This article is supported by the MERLIN project.
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