Project Title: LIVINGWATERS – Local invasive species management and water quality improvement through community-led learning and nature-based solutions
Project budget: €367,742.50 (DANUBEPARKS' buget: 23.095,00 €)
Co-financing source: Horizon Europe programme, through the SoS2LearnDBS Open Call for Community-Led Actions
Project duration: 24 months
Summary:
LIVINGWATERS brings together local communities, researchers and protected area managers to restore freshwater habitats, address pollution pressures and improve invasive alien species management in the Middle Danube region.
The project centres on Lake Kraljevac, a protected wetland ecosystem in Serbia facing nutrient enrichment, invasive species expansion and shoreline degradation. Through a community-led Living Lab approach, it combines scientific monitoring, practical restoration, education and citizen participation. Local fishers, schools and residents will help define priorities, monitor ecosystem conditions and implement restoration measures.
Activities include selective invasive species removal, riparian habitat restoration and shoreline stabilisation. Small-scale circular pilot actions will explore the reuse of removed invasive biomass, including woody material for mulch and erosion-control structures, linking ecological restoration with community learning.
Knowledge exchange with Kopački rit Nature Park in Croatia and Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve in Serbia will help assess how these approaches can be adapted to other freshwater ecosystems. DANUBEPARKS will support dissemination, peer learning and the transfer of project results across its network of protected areas.
Objectives:
The overall objective of LIVINGWATERS is to demonstrate an integrated, community-led approach to freshwater restoration that combines nature-based solutions, participatory monitoring and learning, and circular use of invasive species biomass.
To achieve this, the project will:
Restore freshwater habitats and biodiversity at Lake Kraljevac through community-led nature-based solutions and improved invasive species management, supported by baseline and follow-up ecological monitoring.
Address local pollution pressures and strengthen water literacy through participatory monitoring, education and citizen science, helping communities understand pollution sources, invasive species impacts and their role in protecting freshwater ecosystems.
Test transferable circular solutions for invasive species biomass, demonstrating small-scale, non-commercial reuse practices that support restoration, community engagement and learning.