, Germany
City population: 576013
Duration: 2005 – 2020
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature
Last updated: October 2021

The river Emscher is the symbol of one of the internationally most renowned industrial regions: the Ruhr area with its 5 million inhabitants and an important location of key industries such as steel, chemical, and materials industry. The revitalisation of the Emscher over the last 20 years marks a new phase in the region‘s history and is an impressive example of ecological and socio-economic transformation affecting all aspects of life along the river (Ref. 1).

Restoration of the Emscher River
Restoration of the Emscher River
Photographer: Ilias Abawi, retrieved 08/29/2018

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Riverbank/Lakeside greens
  • Green playgrounds and school grounds
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Large urban parks or forests
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
  • Green areas for water management
  • Sustainable urban drainage systems

Key challenges

  • Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
  • Climate change adaptation
  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Improvements to water quality
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Conversion of former industrial areas
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social interaction
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Employment/job creation

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas

Project objectives

1. A central goal of the Emscher Park project was to clean up the Emscher River, which runs through the very middle of the green plan and stretches a distance of 70 kilometers from east to west through the region. For decades, the river had a reputation of being a biologically dead "open sewer," acting as a waste water canal since the end of the late 19th century (Ref. 2). 2. To prevent abandonment and dereliction of many steel works (Ref. 2) 3. To improve employment situation of the area (Ref. 2) 4. To give the region a greener image (Ref. 2) 5. To improve living conditions of the local population (Ref. 4) 6. To increase biodiversity in the area (Ref. 7)

Implementation activities

Now that much of the mining in the region has ceased, underground sewers have been installed to carry waste away from the river and promote its re-naturalization. Additionally, the river has been re-profiled to allow for better flooding management and, to slow the speed of the currents, part of the river's course has been changed from a straight narrow concrete channel back to a wide curved pool. Trees and native plants have been introduced along the bank, which has improved the water quality as well as the ecosystems in the area (Ref. 2).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change adaptation:

  • Renaturalization of rivers and other water bodies

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)

Main beneficiaries

  • National-level government
  • Local government/Municipality
  • Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
  • Non-government organisation/Civil Society
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Non-government organisation/civil society

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
  • Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The restoration of the Emscher River was initiated by the Emscher Genossenschaft (Ref. 5). The Emscher region has set an example for civic participation in regional planning. The Emscher – Zukunft (future) is a strategic master plan for regional development that has been developed through an intensive dialogue process involving a wide range of stakeholders and effective public participation. This process has enabled many of the Emscher cities to conceptualize a family-friendly, multi-generational living environment (Seltmann, 2007) (Ref. 5).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Yes (EU Water Framework Directive (Ref. 5) is an operational tool, which sets the objectives for water protection in Europe. )
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (1. Regional development strategy by the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing, and Transport in Nord Rhein- Westphalia (1989). One of the key components of this strategy was to bring an International Building Exhibition (International Bauausstellung - IBA) to the region. The IBA initiative was designed to instigate integrated development and regeneration in the region, with architectural competitions playing an important role. Thus it implied that the re-development considered not only economic and job creation factors, but also criteria such as society, the environment, and culture. This initiative was later termed as IBA Emscher Park (Ref. 5). 2. “Future Convention for Stormwater in the Emscher Catchment” (Ref. 5). See comments. )
... a local policy or strategy? Unknown

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public regional budget
  • Public local authority budget
  • Corporate investment
  • Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget
  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Environmental quality
  • Improved waste management
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Improved water quality
  • Increased protection against flooding
  • Improved stormwater management
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Restoration of derelict areas

Economic impacts

  • Increase of green jobs (e.g. paid employment positions)
  • More sustainable tourism

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Promotion of cultural diversity
  • Education
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature

Type of reported impacts

Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Wuppertal Institut für Klima, Umwelt, Energie GmbH (n.d.). Emscher 3.0 (Document attached).
2. Danish Architecture Centre (2014). EMSCHER PARK: FROM DERELICTION TO SCENIC LANDSCAPES. Available at: Source link (Website not available in 2020).
3. (2016). Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR). Available at: Source link October 27, 2020).
4. Emscher Freunde (n.d.). Der Gründung des Vereins Emscher-Freunde. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 27, 2020).
5. Salian, Prit and Anton, Barabara (n.d.). The Emscher Region - the opportunities of economic transition for leapfrogging urban water management A case study investigating the background of and the drivers for, sustainable urban water management in the Emscher Region. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 27, 2020).
6. Unknown author (n.d.). Emschergenossenschaft (EG), Essen (Germany). Available at: Source link (Website not available in 2020).
7. Boon, Philip and Raven, Paul (2012). River Conservation and Management. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 27, 2020).
8. Emscher landscape park (n.d.). Emschergenossenschaft. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 27, 2020).
9. Sustain Europe (2017). The European Green Capital – Essen 2017 creates harmony between urban life and greenery. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 27, 2020).
10. Northern Architecture (2020). Restoration of Emscher river Ruhr Valley. Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 27, 2020).