Room for Living Rivers

Twenty-five years ago, the vision for Living Rivers by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) was born. Bureau Stroming developed this plan together with the Hydrobiological Advisory Bureau Klink BV, the Hydraulics Laboratory, and the Land Surveying Bureau Meet. Living Rivers was a vision for the future of the river system. Over the past twenty-five years, it has yielded significant benefits for nature and landscapes along our rivers, including an impressive array of new nature reserves and smart coalitions, such as those focused on flood safety and mineral extraction.

Rivers and Climate

However, there is still much work to be done in terms of nature development and climate change. The new vision, Room for Living Rivers, presents solutions for the societal challenges we face today. It is a vision created by six nature organizations active in the river region. Bureau Stroming also contributed to this plan.

This new vision is not a blueprint but an invitation to all stakeholders in the river system to collectively create more space for living, climate-resilient rivers, ensuring that people can live, work, and recreate safely.

Enthusiasm

On November 27, 2019, Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Water Management) attended the launch of Room for Living Rivers. She was genuinely enthusiastic about the ambitious plan, which addresses the still-poor quality of underwater nature in the river region and the opportunities for migratory fish. With this initiative, the rivers are once again in the spotlight after the completion of the Room for the River project.

The minister expressed her desire to harness the expertise of nature organizations to find solutions for the issue of soil erosion in the Waal, within the Integrated River Management project. She was impressed by the collaboration with allies from the business sector, shipping industry, mineral extractors, and recreation partners, and sees new energy in combining dike reinforcements with clay extraction in floodplains. In short, there seems to be much work ahead, using both proven approaches and new strategies.

Manifesto

With the launch of the Manifesto for Room for Living Rivers in November 2023, a coalition of 13 parties, including the ANWB, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-NL), The Young Climate Movement, Scouting Netherlands, and Natuurmonumenten, made an urgent appeal to policymakers to prioritize nature and recreation space in the long-term planning of the Rhine, IJssel, Waal, and Meuse regions. The manifesto includes various illustrations by Bureau Stroming.