Last month, on March 10th, WaterLANDS contributed to a policy event, "Freshwater, wetlands, and sponge landscapes for a resilient Europe: Policy insights from flagship projects", in Brussels attended by officials from the European Commission and other agents involved in restoration across Europe.

The event coincided with the final meeting of the MERLIN Project on freshwater restoration and WaterLANDS was represented along with the SpongeScapes and SpongeWorks projects.

A key objective was to demonstrate how EU-funded projects are contributing to the EU Nature Restoration Regulation and to water resilience by helping landscapes retain vital water supplies and the social, economic and biodiversity benefits these actions provide.

WaterLANDS co-coordinator Craig Bullock listed some of the principal outputs and tools which have been developed within the project. WaterLANDS partner, Luis Santamaria from Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) in Spain, outlined the decision support system (DSS-AWERE) which has been built by the project to guide practitioners in their design of restoration projects to maximise environmental and social gains. WaterLANDS Italian Action Site partner, Jane da Mosto of We are here Venice and WaterLANDS co-coordinator Shane McGuinness reported in by video from the Venice Lagoon on the achievements made to saltmarsh restoration.

MERLIN created a video showcasing the voices of practitioners from the different projects. In this video, they share their experiences of what has been put into practice, the long-term visions guiding their work, the challenges they have faced, how they have addressed them, and their key policy messages to Brussels 2026.

As the WaterLANDS project progresses through its final year, the consortium is working hard to disseminate learnings and tools to policymakers, practitioners and local communities to support effective, lasting landscape restoration across Europe.