The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) hosted the SpongeScapes General Assembly from 23 to 25 October 2024 at its Wallingford site. SpongeScapes is a major European initiative, funded by the EU Horizon Europe Programme and UKRI, aimed at improving resilience against climate extremes, such as floods and droughts. The General Assembly brought together all project partners from across Europe to review the first year of progress, plan for the year ahead, and visit key UK case study sites.
Improving knowledge on water retention across European landscapes
SpongeScapes is a research project focused on enhancing the sponge-like properties of landscapes. The ability of soil, groundwater, and surface water ecosystems to absorb, store, and slowly release water can be improved through “sponge measures” such as restoration of floodplains and wetlands, improved soil infiltration and agro-ecological practices and reforestation. Sponge measures aim to increase the resilience of communities to extreme weather events like floods and droughts.
In its first year, SpongeScapes has focused on improving knowledge on how sponge measures work. The evaluation of sponge measures is being done for 14 case studies across Europe, focusing on diverse climates, soils, and hydrological challenges. The evaluation must be done for different types of rain and drought events, ranging from events that occur frequently to those that occur occasionally or seldomly. UKCEH is leading research activities that aim to refine the monitoring methods across European case studies.
Monitoring also helps to identify co-benefits, such as supporting biodiversity and improving soil and water quality, but also potential trade-offs early. This is essential to inform future planning strategies.
Working together for sponge landscapes
SpongeScapes also focuses on direct interaction with stakeholders to select combinations of sponge measures to create sponge strategies for larger landscapes using geodesign approaches. A key project milestone was the first successful "SpongeLab" workshop with the Aa and Maas Water Authority, in the Netherlands, where the geodesign approach was introduced to local stakeholders for better participatory planning of sponge strategies.
Earlier in October 2024, SpongeScapes released a policy brief on transforming conventional landscapes into sponge landscapes. The key messages are: intercept rainfall where it falls, slow down runoff, and temporarily store excess water.
Ellis Penning, SpongeScapes Coordinator at Deltares, says: “As SpongeScapes enters its second year, we will continue refining monitoring techniques, and linking this with modelling at landscape scale to facilitate engaging stakeholders to develop sponge strategies. Our ultimate goal is to provide scientific evidence and practical tools to support policymakers as well as water and land managers in implementing sponge strategies that enhance our resilience to climate change.”
Field visits to the Evenlode catchment and the New Forest National Park
During the General Assembly, partners visited two UK case studies, in the Evenlode catchment and the New Forest National Park.
“SpongeScapes allows us to conduct in-depth analyses of sponge measures across various case studies, using both existing and newly collected data. This research provides insights into the long-term sustainability of sponge measures, ensuring informed future implementations. We are particularly excited to showcase the progress made here in the UK, where our case studies provide valuable insights into natural water retention techniques,” said Dr Doug Wilson, UKCEH Science Director.
The Evenlode case study focuses on natural flood management, using measures such as field corner bunds, leaky wood dams and riparian woodland restoration to reduce flood risk and improve water quality. This case study is of particular interest to the project as it is a community-driven process where farmers and local residents work together in the Evenlode Catchment Partnership to improve the resilience of their landscape to flooding.
The partners also visited the New Forest National Park, where the first floodplain restoration work took place between 2002 and 2006, providing valuable long-term data on the effectiveness of the floodplain restoration work carried out over the last 20 years.
Find out more about SpongeScapes
SpongeScapes is a research project funded by the EU Horizon Europe programme and UKRI, with a budget of €3 million (2023-2027). It involves 10 partners from across Europe, including Deltares (Netherlands) as overall coordinator and UKCEH as lead for all monitoring related activities. The project aims to improve water retention across landscapes (implementing sponge measures and strategies), an approach that is essential for addressing climate-related challenges, such as floods and droughts, while also enhancing biodiversity and soil health.