Synthesis and conclusions to the International Symposium on Ecohydrology, Biotechnology and Engineering: Towards Harmony between the Biogeosphere and Society on the basis of Long-Term Ecosystem Research
Synthèse et conclusions du colloque international sur l' Écohydrologie , la Biotechnologie et l'Ingénierie : Vers l'harmonie entre la Biogeosphère et la Société sur la base de recherche à long-term sur l'écosystème
Résumé
The symposium provided an opportunity for researchers and practitioners from around the world to learn from each other, with a view to developing best practice for conserving and restoring sustainable ecohydrological systems to achieve water security and maintain ecosystem goods and services. This needs to be achieved through combining engineering with an understanding of ecology, in order to appropriately mitigate environmental and water quality impacts. Many of the speakers referred to climate change. Climate change is increasing the urgency to achieve this goal, especially where human (anthropogenic) development of floodplains occurs, particularly in urban areas. Such modification has reduced the size and extent of the flow path and increased flood risk and so necessitated a response to explore ways to manage this risk. A lot of attention was put on understanding socioecological systems, but for successful solutions a great deal relies also on developing an integrative science that will nurture the desired practice. Ecohydrology (Zalewski et al., 1997; Zalewski, 2000, 2011) can give a theoretical background for understanding the complexity of natural processes, by integrating knowledge from different disciplines towards the harmonising of biogeosphere potential with societies’ needs, reducing over-engineering of the environment and lowering costs of water and environmental management. The Symposium provided a platform for using this theory as a new systematic framework for engineering practices that currently lead to over-engineering.