Latest News
Project meetings
The fourth and most recent meeting involving all four partners was held in Grenoble in October 1999. All participants presented their latest research and results. The meeting provided an excellent forum for constructive, collaborative discussions on (i) technical difficulties encountered and possible solutions, (ii) data interpretation, (iii) methodology for data analysis, (iv) joint publications and (v) the transfer of results between and among partners. The structure and content of the Final Annual Report was also discussed and agreed upon. A field trip to the field sites along the Isère River provided visiting members with an opportunity to view field equipment installations and the biogeographical features of this field site.
Research
In conjunction with the scientific research already underway, attention has been focused recently on investigating the institutional frameworks in which river restoration projects take place in Europe and how the implementation of these projects is affected by our present understanding of the functioning of floodplain ecosystems. The study involves (i) a survey of the institutions and legal frameworks involved in river management within the study catchments in the U.K., Sweden and France and (ii) an assessment of a number of case studies to understand the ways in which institution partnerships and packages (incentives etc.) have been designed to achieve restoration or amelioration of floodplain environments using appropriate scientific knowledge in the design. B. Adams, M. Perrow and A. Carpenter are leading research in this area. Data banks are also currently being prepared by each group and will be available on disc with details of their content (eg. type of data, frequency of collection, contact names and coordinates etc.).