Building a European Community of Practice on Lake Restoration
3 September 2026 | Mission Lakes Join Webinar Series.
On 3 September 2026, 64 participants from across Europe joined the latest Mission Lakes webinar to explore an important question: How can we build a lasting European Community of Practice (CoP) for lake restoration?
As the fifth meeting in the joint MissionLakes1 webinar series, the session, coordinated by FutureLakes, brought together researchers, practitioners, lake managers, NGOs and policymakers to discuss how restoration knowledge can be shared beyond the lifetime of individual projects.
Why a European Community of Practice?
The discussion was framed by the growing need for lake restoration across Europe. Despite increasing experience and scientific knowledge, restoration efforts remain constrained by fragmented governance, funding challenges, inconsistent policy support and limited opportunities for practitioners to learn from one another.
Drawing on experience from the global lake restoration community established through the uPcycle project, Maira Mucci (Wageningen University) discussed how an international network of around 400 members has helped connect scientists, government representatives, consultants and managers working on lakes, reservoirs and ponds worldwide. The community provides a platform for exchanging experiences, sharing resources, building collaborations and identifying opportunities to influence policy.
A key message was that while a global network already exists, Europe would benefit from a dedicated forum focused on its own restoration challenges, governance contexts and policy frameworks.
Learning from Restoration Practice
The webinar featured three practitioner presentations that illustrated the diversity of restoration challenges facing European lakes.
Kartuzy Lakes, Poland
Natalia Lekner of the FutureLakes project presented the restoration of four interconnected urban lakes in Kartuzy, Poland. Following earlier restoration attempts with mixed results, a comprehensive programme launched in 2013 transformed the lakes through strong collaboration with scientific partners and substantial European Union investment.
The restoration programme secured more than €11 million in EU funding, improving ecological conditions, recreational opportunities and waterfront infrastructure. The work continues today through additional nature-based measures, including floating macrophyte islands, nutrient-binding treatments, invasive species management and biomanipulation.
The Kartuzy experience highlighted an important lesson: lake restoration is a long-term commitment that requires ongoing maintenance, monitoring and community engagement.
Vransko Lake, Croatia
Maja Ćuže Denona of ProCleanLakes introduced Vransko Lake, a unique shallow karst lake of high ecological significance and an important habitat for birds. The lake faces multiple interacting pressures, including climate change, declining water levels, agricultural impacts, seawater intrusion and invasive species.
Monitoring has documented the loss of key habitats, prompting efforts to develop catchment-wide water management solutions, improve hydrological controls and restore surrounding wetlands.
Maja emphasized the need for stronger knowledge exchange among managers of similar lake systems and for greater collaboration between hydrologists, geologists, agronomists, ecologists and local stakeholders.
REGH Oxbow Project, Romania
Szilárd-Péter Kelemen, representing the Ferro Project, presented the REGH Oxbow restoration project in central Romania, which focuses on two disconnected oxbow lakes affected by eutrophication, sediment accumulation, drought and oxygen depletion.
The project demonstrates how historical river engineering, originally designed for flood protection, has created new ecological challenges. Restoration efforts now aim to improve water retention, manage sediments and nutrients, restore biodiversity, and strengthen resilience to drought and extreme heat.
Partnerships between NGOs, municipalities, universities, farmers and regional authorities are central to the project's success.
A Mission Lakes Network for Europe
Building on these examples, participants discussed how Mission Lakes could support a European restoration community in the short term.
A proposed approach is to establish an informal European restoration network, creating opportunities for regular online exchange and collaboration between projects, practitioners and policymakers. Participants also explored the possibility of developing a shared knowledge hub, potentially using Microsoft Teams, where presentations, guidance materials, publications and discussion forums could be maintained beyond the duration of individual projects.
Important questions remain, including how such a network should be organised, whether communities should be structured around countries, languages or themes, and how long-term coordination can be sustained.
Looking Ahead
The webinar demonstrated both the diversity of restoration challenges across Europe and the common need for stronger connections between those working to address them. Whether restoring urban lakes in Poland, managing climate pressures in Croatia or rehabilitating wetlands in Romania, many of the challenges are shared.
Participants agreed that preserving project knowledge, strengthening collaboration and learning from practical experience will be essential if Europe is to accelerate progress towards healthier, more resilient lake ecosystems.
Mission Lakes will continue exploring how a European Community of Practice can support these goals and help create stronger links between restoration initiatives across the continent.
The presentation slides from the webinar are available below.
4. ProCleanLakes Vransko Denona
5. FERRO-RECI Oxbow Green Life