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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project
@spongeboost.eu
81 followers 92 following 54 posts
Upscaling the natural sponge functions of freshwater ecosystems to deliver multi-benefit Green Deal solutions. Project funded by @HorizonEU (GA:101112906). 🔗 https://www.spongeboost.eu
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Apr 8
Day 2️⃣ of #SpongeBoostmeets2025 is officially kicking off with a warm welcome by our organisers and the hosts of our annual meeting in Santiago de Compostela - @CIREF and @cispac.bsky.social.👏 Keep posted with today's updates. 👉🔔
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 1d
Welcome to S.P.O.N.G.E – the online navigation guide for European sponge projects! 🌍💧
💡 It brings together European sponge projects from existing databases and provides a geographical overview of them.
👉 Explore: media.stroming.nl/sponge
🔎 Learn more: www.spongeboost.eu/news/sponge-...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 2d
🎥 The first episode of our video campaign #SpongeBoostFaces is live now!
In this video, Mathias Scholz, project coordinator of SpongeBoost, gives an overview of the progress made during the first year.
👉 Watch and subscribe for future episodes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVII...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 8d
💚 This week in our #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters campaign, we explore how multi-benefit floodplain projects in California and Germany successfully combine flood risk reduction with ecosystem restoration.
📚 Read the full paper here: www.frontiersin.org/journals/env...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 9d
Welcome to #SpongeBoostFaces, a new video series that introduces the people behind the SpongeBoost project.
🎥 Watch here and subscribe to stay tuned for future videos: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dWM...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 10d
🦸 On 26 September, the first issue of SpongeBoost’s comic series, “Floods, Facts and Wetlands”, was presented at this year’s Researchers’ Night at the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (UJEP).
🔎 Learn more: www.spongeboost.eu/news/spongeb...
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 13d
💚 This week in our #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters campaign, we present research on the socio-economic benefits of Natura 2000 in the Azores Islands.
📚 Read the full paper here: shorturl.at/WGFHy
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 22d
💚 This week in #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters:
🔎 Restoring #wetlands, #floodplains & #peatlands as “natural sponges” can cut flood & drought risks, boost biodiversity, improve water & store carbon.
📚 Full study 👉 europe.wetlands.org/publication/...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · 27d
This week in our #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters campaign: A paper on detectable shifts in plant, carabid beetle, and mollusc communities in Germany's Elbe floodplain after floods and heatwaves, and the challenge of linking these changes to human-driven climate change.
📚 doi.org/10.1038/s415...
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Sep 5
🌿 @bioagora.eu has announced a new Call for Knowledge and Experts, inviting specialists to share their insights and/or join an Expert Group focused on the ecological characterisation of selected EU wetland habitats.
🗓️ Knowledge submissions – 15 September
🔍 bioagora.eu/news/new-bio...
bioagora.eu
BioAgora project @bioagora.eu · Jul 16
📢 A new BioAgora Call for Knowledge and Experts has been announced!

💡 We invite experts to share their knowledge and/or join an Expert Group on the ecological characterisation of selected EU wetland habitats.

✍ Apply here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

#Biodiversity #ForNature #ForOurPlanet
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Sep 5
🌍 Peatlands are vital for storing carbon, supporting biodiversity, and regulating water cycles.💧 Yet, only 19% are in protected areas, and even those often face threats due to weak enforcement.
🔎 Find out more about their importance: www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
unep.org
UN Environment Programme @unep.org · Jul 27
Peatlands cover just 3% of land but store about twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests, making them unsung heroes in the battle against climate change.

For #WorldBogDay, here are seven key things you should know about these vital ecosystems. www.unep.org/news-and-sto...
The background shows a close-up of sphagnum moss, typical of peatland ecosystems. The text reads “7 things you should know about peatlands”, with the UNEP logo in the top right corner.
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Sep 5
Freshwater, wetlands, and sponge landscapes for a resilient Europe: Policy insights from flagship projects
📅 10 March 2026, 13:00–17:00 CET
📍 Maison de la Poste, Brussels + online (hybrid)
merlin-project.bsky.social
MERLIN project @merlin-project.bsky.social · Sep 5
Save the date! This policy-focused event aims to share insights and lessons from large-scale freshwater and wetland restoration projects, linked to the #EUGreenDeal and the #NatureRestorationRegulation.

📅 10 March 2026, 13:00–17:00 CET

Organised by MERLIN, WaterLANDS, SpongeScapes & SpongeWorks.
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Sep 5
💚 This week in #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters: a 10,000-year climate record from an Iberian bog! 🌿
🔎 Carbon accumulation in Chao de Veiga Mol tracked Holocene climate changes, revealing its unique paleoenvironmental value.
📚 Read here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Aug 29
💚 This week in #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters:
🔎 A bog restoration study in Estonia tested a model predicting groundwater changes after ditch closure + forest thinning.
📚 Full paper: doi.org/10.3390/w131...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Aug 22
💚 This week in our #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters campaign we share research on the 2019 European heatwave 📃
🔎 Storms that followed increased algae (chlorophyll-a) more than the heatwave itself, reshaping lake water quality.
📚 Full paper: www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/21...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Aug 15
💚The "Carbon Stocks of Hardwood Floodplain Forests along the Middle Elbe" paper shows older hardwood floodplain forests store significantly more carbon than younger ones, with oak (Quercus robur) being the largest carbon storer.📃 #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters
Full paper: doi.org/10.3390/w130...
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Aug 8
Introducing SpongeBoost's new social media campaign #PreviousResearchofSpongeBoosters. 💚
📃 This series highlights all relevant papers prior to SpongeBoost, focusing on topics such as restoration and climatic risks.🌿
Stay tuned! 🔔
spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jul 21
SpongeBoost’s comic book is now available in nine languages! 📚
💭 With the creative illustrations, created by parzelle34, and its inspiring story, the comic book makes complex scientific concepts easily accessible to both experts and non-experts.
🔎 Find it on Zenodo: zenodo.org/records/1577...
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jul 4
💚 Yesterday, Lea Hallik from the University of Tartu presented the SpongeBoost project at the 12th INTECOL Wetlands Conference, taking place from 29 June to 4 July in Tartu, Estonia. 🌱

📆 Check the full programme here: intecolwetlands2025.ee/programme
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jun 30
📫 The third SpongeBoost Newsletter is out now! 😊 Explore key achievements from the first six months of 2025
👉 preview.mailerlite.io/preview/1004...
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jun 27
🌍 From 23–31 July, 172 governments will meet at #RamsarCOP15 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, to protect wetlands. A chance to turn promises into policies and ambitions into action.
💚Wetlands are not just victims of climate change, they’re key to solving it.
#WetlandsForOurCommonFuture #WetlandsMatter
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jun 25
SpongeBoost's next newsletter is coming soon. 😊
✍🏻Make sure to subscribe to join our community and stay on track with the latest updates and insights: dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/100477...
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jun 25
🎉 The first #SpongeBoosterOfTheYear award ceremony took place on 20 June and celebrated Planar e.V. for their wetland restoration on the Diemel River, reconnecting 20 hectares of floodplain and creating habitats for over 65 species!
📖 Learn more: www.spongeboost.eu/news/first-s...
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jun 19
🎉 1 day to go! 🏆Planar e.V. raised the waterbody, rehydrated floodplains, restored wetland habitats, and refilled old meanders. These changes have supported the return of species and formed new habitats.
📷 Johann Taillebois – magda-map.de

#SpongeBoosterOfTheYear2025
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jun 18
Thanks to the #restoration efforts of our SpongeBooster of the Year 🏆 – Planar e.V. – habitats along the river Diemel are thriving once again.🌱
🔎 Learn more about the species that have returned and are now thriving thanks to improved conditions:
💚 Kingfisher
💚 Beave
💚 Grayling
💚 Minnow
💚 Sandpiper
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spongeboost.eu
SpongeBoost Project @spongeboost.eu · Jun 12
🏆 The "SpongeBooster of the Year 2025" award goes to Planar e.V.! 💚 On 20 June, their work in sustainable regional development will be celebrated with an award ceremony, ending with a field trip to the restored section of the Diemel. 🌱