Objectives
Sediment and its
management
Sediment is an essential, integral and dynamic part of
our river basins, estuaries and seas. Where human
activities interfere with sediment quantity or quality,
sediment management may become necessary. Effective and
sustainable sediment management requires a holistic
approach taking into account:
• System understanding;
• Integrated management of soil, water and sediment;
• Transboundary cooperation;
• Upstream-downstream interrelationships; and
• Stakeholder involvement.
Identity
In our network, we bring together sediment professionals
from science, administration, management, NGOs,
consultancy and industry. We interact with various
networks and organizations (see appendix), especially in
Europe, that operate at national or international level
and focus on sediment, soil and water and in fields such
as science, policy making, management, industry,
education etc. We welcome anyone to share and cooperate
according to our vision.
Mission
Our mission is to be a leading European network aimed at
incorporating sediment issues and knowledge into
relevant European and national policies (see picture) in
order to support the achievement of good environmental
status and to develop and facilitate the implementation
of new tools for sediment management.
Focus
We focus on all sediment quality and quantity issues –
and their impact on ecosystem functioning – ranging from
freshwater, at local to river basin scale, to estuarine
and marine sediments.
Aims
We aime to:
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Contribute
to the further development of a holistic
understanding of sediments and their management; |
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Be a
multidisciplinary platform for communication and
education about sediment management and the
needs for future action (either in policy
making, management or research); |
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Be the
main contact / information point for the
European Commission on sediment related
questions in relation to sediment related
European policies (see picture). |
Activities
We initiate, support and/or organize several
activities, such as: |
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Conferences in which we bring together
sediment experts from science, management,
industry and consultancy. |
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Workshops on special topics, such as
Round Table discussions on River Basin Sediment
Management. In these workshops invited experts
participate. The outcome is published on our
website and through relevant media. |
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Written position and policy statements
on special topics after internal consultation
within the network. |
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E-newsletter about sediment related
activities, publications, etc. The whole SedNet
community is invited to provide input. We aim to
produce four electronic newsletters annually. |
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Website which is our main information
platform. It provides a data base containing all
kinds of information about sediment related
topics as well as all SedNet documents. The
whole SedNet community is invited to provide
input. |
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Training courses: we are open to
cooperate with, and support anyone who organizes
training or education courses that support our
vision. |
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