International Scientific Conference "Good Practices in Water Management Planning 2026"

9. 7. 2026

The goal of the conference is to bring together experts from research, public administration, water management, landscape planning, and the applied sciences. Together, we will focus on how the concept of ecosystem services can contribute to more sustainable, transparent, and evidence-based decision-making in the field of water.

Over the course of two days, the conference will feature expert presentations, keynote speeches, practical examples, panel discussions, and opportunities for networking across institutions and disciplines.

The conference is being organized as one of the outcomes of the WAMPES project—Integrating the Concept of Ecosystem Services Assessment into Future River Basin Plans—supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic.

The conference is completely free and will be held in a hybrid format (both online and in person).

4. – 6. 11. 2026

Kongres Park Liberec


Main topics

Ecosystem Services in Watershed Planning

Assessment of ecosystem services provided by water bodies and river basins and their potential use in future river basin plans.

Water Management and Climate Adaptation

The Role of Nature-Based and Ecosystem-Oriented Approaches in Strengthening Landscape Resilience, Water Retention, and Adaptation to Climate Change.

Data, Modeling, and Spatial Tools

The use of data, GIS, modeling, and visualization tools for assessing ecosystem services and supporting decision-making.

Benefits of Water Management Measures

The environmental, social, and economic benefits of water-related measures and ways to present them clearly for decision-making processes.

From Research to Practice

Opportunities for translating research findings into planning processes, methodological recommendations, public policies, and collaboration with stakeholders.


Practical information

Registration open to:20. 10. 2026
Deadline for Abstracts:20. 10. 2026
Date of conference:4. – 5. 11. 2026
Stakeholder Workshop (only for CZ)6. 11. 2026

The WAMPES Project—Integrating the Concept of Ecosystem Services Assessment into Future River Basin Plans—focuses on incorporating the assessment of ecosystem services into future water planning processes.

The project’s goal is to develop and validate approaches that will enable the assessment of the quality and significance of ecosystem services provided by water bodies and river basins. The project promotes the use of ecosystem services as a practical framework for planning water management measures, communicating their benefits, and strengthening climate adaptation.

By bringing together research institutions, implementation partners, and stakeholders, the project contributes to a better understanding of how ecosystem services can support more sustainable, transparent, and evidence-based decision-making in water management.

Link for project website.

researchers and academics,

water management experts,

representatives of public administration, regions, and municipalities,

river basin authorities and planning agencies,

environmental and landscape planners,

experts in ecosystem services and climate adaptation,

doctoral students and early-career researchers,

stakeholders involved in water management, regional development, and landscape conservation.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

The conference will take place at Kongres Park Liberec, which offers suitable facilities for the professional program, workshops, and informal networking among participants.

Address:

Jeronýmova 570/22, Liberec

Accommodations:

We recommend that participants book their accommodations well in advance directly at Kongres Park Liberec.

Your paper must include an abstract, consisting of 100-150 words, which provides readers with an overview of the content of your paper. It is important that your abstract clearly states the purpose of your paper and summarizes the content. Do not use first or second person (I, me, my, we, us, our, you…). Instead, use “this paper” or “the authors”. Do not divide lines by Enter – at the end of paragraph only.

Schneider Jiří – principal investigator of the project – jiri.schneider@mendelu.cz

Stanislav Ruman – project investigator – stanislav.ruman@osu.cz

Jan Krist – conference organizer- krist@mendelu.cz

Jiří Schneider (MENDELU)

Jan Babej (CzechGlobe)

Bence Decsi (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

Tomáš Galia (OsU)

Xavier Garcia  (Catalan Institute for Water Research ICRA)

Jerzy Niedbała (Odra PCU)

Jiří Jakubínský (CzechGlobe)

Juan Pablo Pacheco (Ecoscience, Aarhus University)

Martin Pavel (Sterplan)

Vilém Pechanec (UPOL)

Pablo E. Prado (Lund University, UMSS)

Stanislav Ruman (OsU)


Program *program to be announced*

Day 1 of the Conference – November 4, 2026

1:00 p.m. | Participants’ meeting

2:00 p.m. | Field trip – discussion of ecosystem services and their assessment using a model water body

6:00 p.m. | Networking dinner

Day 2 of the Conference – November 5, 2026

9:00–10:00 | Participant Registration

10:00–10:30 | Conference Opening

Opening remarks by the organizers and introduction to the WAMPES project.

10:30–11:30 | Keynote Presentation I

Examples of best practices from river basin plans.

11:30–12:30 | Technical Session I

12:30–13:30 | Lunch

13:30–15:00 | Technical Session II

3:00–3:30 p.m. | Coffee break

3:30–5:00 p.m. | Panel discussion

How to incorporate ecosystem services into river basin plans?

5:00–6:00 p.m. | Poster session and networking

7:00 p.m. | Informal evening program

Stakeholder Workshop (only for CZ)

Day 3 – November 6, 2026 – Side event outside the conference

Panel I – Theoretical Foundations of the Project and Selected Results

10:00–10:10 | Workshop opening and project presentation

10:10–10:30 | Introduction to ecosystem services

10:30–12:00 | Presentation of key ecosystem services, input data, and the methodology for selected project outputs

12:00–13:20 | Lunch break

Panel II – Project Results and Implementation

13:00–13:20 | Title/content to be added

13:20–14:00 | Software presentation

14:00–14:45 | Case studies and implementation of results

2:45–3:00 PM | Discussion

You must register for the workshop separately from the conference; please use the link below.

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