Theme 5: Ecohydrology, Engineering Harmony for a Sustainable World
In the face of increasing climate instability, demographic growth and human migrations, and the emergence of new geopolitical centres, which will affect the global economy (including food prices growth and intensified environmental impact), there is an urgent need to reverse degradation of water resources and stop further decline in biodiversity. Appreciation and optimization of ecosystem services for society along with enhancement of resilience of river basins to climatic and anthropogenic stress may greatly contribute to reach this goal.
In the Anthropocene, most of the global landscape, except deserts, high mountains and the boreal zone, has been converted into agricultural land with spots of highly modified urban areas. This over-engineering of urban and agricultural landscapes results in a reduction of biomass and organic matter, leading to a modification of the water cycle from the model situation where biological component stabilizes the heat budget and water dynamics at the intermediate disturbance level, to a model where the water cycle accelerates and becomes more stochastic and unfavorable for biota and humanity (droughts and catastrophic floods). Additionally, these processes reduce carbon storage and nutrients transfer from mineral to organic forms, impacting the material cycle. To reverse those negative processes, a two-steps strategy has to be elaborated and implemented. The first proposed step should be based on von Weizsäcker’s reduction of energy and matter use per GDP. The second proposed step is based on Ecohydrology theory to regulate hydrological and nutrients’ cycles in “novel ecosystems” (agricultural and urban) towards the enhancement of carrying capacity of the global ecosystem. Carrying capacity enhancement is understood as the enhancement related to water resources, biodiversity, ecosystem services for societies and the resilience to increasing various forms of impact.
Focal Areas
For more information on each focal area and the implementation plan, please follow the links below:
Implementation Matrices for Theme 5 Focal Areas
- Focal area 5.1 - Hydrological dimension of catchment– identification of potential threats and opportunities for a sustainable development
- Focal area 5.2 - Shaping of the catchment ecological structure for ecosystem potential enhancement ─ biological productivity and biodiversity
- Focal area 5.3 - Ecohydrology system solution and ecological engineering for the enhancement of water and ecosystem resilience and ecosystem services
- Focal area 5.4 - Urban Ecohydrology – storm water purification and retention in the city landscape, potential for improvement of health and quality of life
- Focal area 5.5 - Ecohydrological regulation for sustaining and restoring continental to coastal connectivity and ecosystem functioning