From Wednesday 10th to Friday 12th of December, all ResiRiver partners came together in Den Bosch for our half-yearly meeting. By now, these meetings have become a familiar and much-valued moment to reconnect with colleagues, exchange ideas and knowledge, and find fresh inspiration to further the Mainstreaming and Upscaling of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) within our respective organisations.
Wednesday: Biodiversity, Bossche bollen, and a ResiRiver library
Wednesday kicked off with a deep dive into our ongoing efforts to quantify the effectiveness of NbS, focusing on the application of the biodiversity net gain method in two of our nine pilot projects. The initial results sparked interest and discussion, but partners agreed that better alignment with national systems is still needed. This work will therefore continue in 2026.
The remainder of the day was devoted to shaping a ResiRiver-specific guideline for NbS practitioners. This naturally led to lively and constructive discussions, reflecting the different national contexts and needs within the partnership. We also explored plans for an online ResiRiver library with training materials. Given the project’s strong grounding in both the scientific and social dimensions of NbS, we were delighted to involve three interns (Hind Bidaoui, Nienke Timmermans and Ibtisam Mahamed) who have been instrumental in building the software infrastructure for our very own library. We expect this resource to become publicly available in the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, the five ResiRiver PhD students shared updates on how their research contributes to the project’s mainstreaming and upscaling ambitions.
Thursday: Science team and field trip to the Meanderende Maas
The second day kicked off with a session led by our Science Team, which facilitated a discussion on where each partner currently stands in the mainstreaming process. Using the theory of change as a guiding framework, the session made clear that all partners have now taken concrete and meaningful steps forward.
In the afternoon, we swapped the meeting room for the field and headed to the Meanderende Maas project. We received a warm welcome and an engaging project overview from communication manager Marjolein Rozemeijer and technical manager Bert Flach. The visit highlighted the high priority and considerable investment associated with flood risk management in the Netherlands, which came as a surprise to several European partners. While the Meanderende Maas is not strictly an NbS project, it offered valuable insights into the interplay between dike reinforcement, spatial planning and the involvement of key societal actors.
Friday: Peer review process and mini boats
On the final day, we reflected on the peer review process that all pilots have participated in over the past year, discussing what is needed to further implement and embed NbS across partner organisations. After that, it was time for a more hands-on and interactive workshop. Luckily, a few of our partners proved to be experts in folding mini boats. Using these boats in a riverine setting, we visualised the journeys of the different pilots so far, the lessons learned, and our shared ambitions for the year ahead.
The coming year will be particularly important, with the project’s midterm review scheduled for May 2026. See you soon, Germany!