SpongeBoost Project

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...

💚 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

📫 The third SpongeBoost Newsletter is out now! 😊 Explore key achievements from the first six months of 2025
👉 preview.mailerlite.io/preview/1004...

🌍 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

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...

🎉 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...

🎉 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

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

🏆 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. 🌱

✅ Trivia answer time! The correct answer was... a field trip! 🚌 Did you guess right?
The very first SpongeBooster of the Year award went to PLANAR e.V. for their work in planning sustainable regional development. 🌍 Their reward? A field trip. 🏞️

Today we celebrate #WorldEnvironmentDay 🌍
🌱 Ecosystems like wetlands, forests, and farmlands provide us with clean water, food, and climate stability.
💚 SpongeBoost is committed to enhancing the sponge functions of wetlands to support their long-term sustainability.🧽
🔗 www.worldenvironmentday.global

🌍World Peatlands Day highlights the importance of protecting these vital ecosystems.
🔎Did you know that peatlands store more carbon than all forests combined, yet get little climate funding?
They regulate climate, support biodiversity, purify water & reduce floods, essential for a healthy planet.🌱

❓ Trivia time! Can you guess what’s coming up next?
Drop your answer in the comments using the emojis! 👇

📱 A new social media campaign
🦸 A new project superhero
🚌 SpongeBooster of the Year field trip
📚 A brand new comic book

Let’s see who guesses right!

Happy #BiodiversityDay 💚 Enhancing sponge functions in soils, wetlands and groundwater improves water retention and resilience.
We want to:
✅ Compile knowledge
✅ Build a Europe-wide database
✅ Test methods
✅ Develop a roadmap
✅ Share results
#TransformativeChange4Biodiversity

The annual Auenökologischer Workshop (Floodplain Ecology Workshop) was held at the University of Kassel, Germany from 19-21 March. The event was co-organised by SpongeBoost’s coordinator, Mathias Scholz, and brought together a wide spectrum of stakeholders.
🔗 www.spongeboost.eu/news/spongeb...

👏The #SpongeBoosterOfTheMonth for April is Restore4Life – an EU-funded project demonstrating impressive socio-economic benefits from restoring freshwater in the Danube basin.🌿
🔎Get a glimpse of their work ⤵️

💧From 7-11 April, the SpongeBoost consortium gathered in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, for our annual meeting.🌍
🌱We shared insights, exchanged ideas, and explored case study areas in Galicia and the Ebro River floodplains.
🔗Read more about our journey: www.spongeboost.eu/news/spongeb...

It’s Day 3️⃣ of the #SpongeBoostmeets2025 and our hosts - CIREF are taking us on a field trip to one of our case study areas - the Xistral mountain. 🏞️
🧐Curious to find out what this device is? Swipe right!⏭️

🧵 Here's a thread with highlights from Day #2 of the 1st annual @spongeboost.eu project meeting, taking place this week in Spain!

❕ Make sure to follow #SpongeBoostmeets2025 for more updates from this exciting week! 😉

👇 More about @spongeboost.eu & our role in the consortium on our blog:

🎙️We conclude this block of project achievements with WP5’s team, @pensoft.net and @umwelthilfe.bsky.social, at #SpongeBoostmeets2025, who provide an overview of the #communication and #dissemination efforts to date. Follow all our channels for the latest project updates.📲

👉Within Day 2 of #SpongeBoostMeets2025, WP2 leads from Bureau Stroming took the floor to introduce S.P.O.N.G.E, an internal online platform serving as a database for all projects, dedicated to enhancing the #sponge function of #landscapes.💽🧽

📚 As #SpongeBoostMeets2025 moves forward, we’re highlighting key achievements from the project’s 1️⃣st year. Currently in the spotlight are WP1 leads from UJEP, sharing their work on a literature review and the synthesis of the best available knowledge.💡

🤔What’s SpongeBoost without its case study sites?📍At the #SpongeBoostmeets2025 Aniela Stachnik from CIREF takes us through the project’s case studies, highlighting each location and outlining the #restoration activities that our partners will focus on in these areas.💡

⏭️ #SpongeBoostMeets2025 continues with an in-depth overview of the project's objectives and case study areas, presented by coordinator Mathias Scholz. This was followed by a comprehensive walkthrough of the Work Packages, led by our project manager Michael Vieweg.📋

🤝An official introduction is in order - both for our SpongeBoost partners and their institutions, as well as our guests joining us for #SpongeBoostMeets2025. Looking forward to a productive day ahead!🙌

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. 👉🔔

🧑‍💼Jan Macháč (UJEP) highlighted the importance of institutional and stakeholder analysis, presenting a 5-step comparative research process: identify stakeholders, conduct interviews, analyse transcripts, triangulate results, and finalise pilot areas. #SpongeBoostmeets2025

💬 We began with a policy session led by Paul Brotherton from Wetlands International Europe, who explored how SpongeBoost can impact #water management and #climate resilience. He outlined key #EU policies, including the water framework and #flood directives. #SpongeBoostmeets2025

Welcome to the historic town of Santiago de Compostela, where the first AGM meeting of SpongeBoost is taking place! 👋 We're just beginning, so keep up with the live updates. 🔔
#SpongeBoostmeets2025

📰EurekAlert!, AlphaGalileo and WIT News released a press statement highlighting the launch of SpongeBoost’s first comic book, which sets the beginning of a series.
🔗Learn more: www.spongeboost.eu/news/new-pre...