At Nijmegen, the Waal River bends sharply and narrows. This creates a bottleneck, which often caused flooding of the historic city centre of Nijmegen, located on the south bank of the Wall. After the floods of 1993 and 1995 and faced with increased risk of flooding due to climate change, the city of Nijmegen decided to give more room to the Waal River, at the same time protecting nearby natural habitats and providing recreational space.

The Sigma Plan is an integrated flood protection plan that was firstly established in 1977, in reaction to a major storm surge flood in 1976. The Sigma Plan offers protection against storm surges as well as river floods caused by excessive rainfall. Its objectives also include nature protection.

The strategy and action plan for the wetland ecosystems in Attica Region (Greece) were developed in the OrientGate project by the Environmental Department of Attica Regional Authority with the scientific support of the Greek Biotope Wetland Centre (EKBY).

The rural district of Aurich in Lower Saxony is the northernmost district of Germany, bordering the Netherlands and the North Sea. Its natural environment is characterised by the Wadden Sea, by three islands off the coast and by more than 70km of coastline. Dominant habitats include coastal wetlands and inland moors and swamps. Large areas of the Aurich District are protected, the Wadden Sea National Park of Lower Saxony being only one example. In addition, large areas lie below sea level, both on the islands as well as a strip 2 and 15 km wide behind the mainland coast.

This case study describes the flood risk management plan and the related restoration of a formerly canalized eight kilometres stretch of the Isar river in the city of Munich (the so called “Isar Plan”). Still in the beginning of the 19^th century, the Isar was a typical wild alpine river with wide gravel islands and sandbanks and a constantly changing riverbed. In the middle of the 19^th century after repeated flooding suffered by the Lehel, Au and Thal districts in Munich, hydraulic regulation began, and the riverbed was canalized.

Over a century ago a sparsely populated landscape of water meadows was transformed into an industrial conurbation, and the untamed river Emscher, in the Ruhr area, turned into a man-made system of open waste waterways. Due to subsidence caused by mining, it was impossible to build an underground sewer system. Therefore, the Emscher and its tributaries were regulated and used to transport the wastewater together with rainwater on the surface. This made the Emscher simply a great open wastewater channel.

Klaipėda is a coastal city with almost all of its territory located on coastal lowland, and the Smeltalė river situated in the Southern part of the city, falling into the Curonian Lagoon within the city area. Regular floodings of the southern city areas due to flash floods in the Smeltalė River and Baltic Sea level fluctuations are the main problem of the Klaipėda city case study area.

The City of Växjö is situated in the southern part of Sweden, surrounded by forests and lakes. As many parts of the central city of Växjö were built upon wet and swampy areas they are vulnerable to floods after heavy rainfall events. One of the most affected parts is the street Linnégatan which is built on a previously existing small stream and which is situated much lower than the surrounding built areas. In past years, rainwater often flooded the street and the nearby buildings’ basements and cellars.

In 2000, the governments of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova pledged to work together – with the signing of the Lower Danube Green Corridor Agreement - to establish a green corridor along the entire length of the Lower Danube River (~1,000 km). All partners recognized a need and shared responsibility to protect and manage the Lower Danube in a sustainable way.

Situated in East Anglia, Norfolk Broads (Broadland) is one of the finest areas of wetland in Britain. It includes both open water, the Broads themselves (a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes), and the low-lying marshland surrounding the tidal reaches of the Yare, Waveney, Bure rivers and their tributaries. These rivers reach the sea at Great Yarmouth.