Recap of the national workshop on restoring free-flowing rivers
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Rivers and Lakes
On 2-4 April, our member MedINA organised the first national workshop on restoring free flowing rivers in Athens. We co-funded the event and provided insights to align restoration in Greece with our work within the Dam Removal Europe coalition, which continues to lead the way on safe, strategic, and science-based dam removals; the most effective tool we have to meet the 25,000 km target.
The EU-wide target of 25, 000 km of free-flowing rivers by 2030 is all about tackling obsolete barriers; removing or refurbishing them so rivers can flow freely once again. This nature-based solution is essential to support flood risk management and is crucial for restoring habitat connectivity.
Towards a European strategy for barrier removal
“River restoration is not a luxury. It is a necessity and requires collective effort.” This was the central message of the National Workshop “Towards Free Flowing Rivers in Greece”, which opened the public discussion on the need to remove barriers from the country’s rivers.
The event brought to the forefront the key practices in the restoration of river ecosystems and mitigation against biodiversity loss. For the first time in Greece, representatives from the Ministry of the Environment and Energy, of the Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA), researchers from HCMR – Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, engineers, international experts, civil society organizations, and concerned citizens gathered together with a common goal: to shed light on all aspects of free-flowing rivers and their restoration.
The workshop highlighted the importance of removing outdated and non-functional barriers – such as small dams, abandoned irrigation reservoirs, and culverts – a practice widely implemented in Europe and the USA with significant results.
Throughout the workshop, it was emphasized that the presence of barriers is not only a technical or energy-related issue, but one with environmental, social, and economic dimensions primarily. Our Freshwater policy officer shared key upcoming EU policy milestones and how we’re advancing a strategy for obsolete barrier removal across Europe.
Read more insights on the workshop at this link.