The European Water Resilience Strategy (EWRS) sets out an ambitious vision: climate-resilient landscapes that can cope with both floods and droughts. A central element of this vision is the restoration and protection of the natural water cycle.
The strategy explicitly recognises the importance of sponge landscapes — ecosystems that capture, store and slowly release water, helping reduce flood peaks, recharge groundwater and buffer drought impacts.
However, as the EWRS is still a new policy initiative, a key challenge now is how this vision can be translated into practical action on the ground.
To contribute to this discussion, SpongeWorks joined forces with the EU projects MERLIN, SpongeScapes, SpongeBoost and FutureLakes to develop a joint policy brief. The brief draws on lessons from research and implementation across Europe and explores how sponge landscapes and nature-based solutions can strengthen water resilience.
The document highlights how policy alignment, knowledge sharing, stakeholder engagement and innovative financing can support the development and scaling of sponge strategies at landscape level. It also emphasises the importance of connecting EU-level policy frameworks with Member State planning and local implementation.
The policy brief reflects growing collaboration between projects working on the sponge landscape perspective, bringing together research, policy and practice to help restore hydrological functioning and strengthen climate resilience across Europe.
