Radio 4’s ‘You & Yours’ programme visited the Flood Test Centre in Wallingford, Oxfordshire to discover more about the innovative products involved in flood protection. Listen to the show on Friday 12.20pm: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qps9

The IRF has recently formed a partnership to deliver a European Riverprize for the first time in 2013. The IRF European Riverprize will celebrate successful approaches that have overcome the challenges to river restoration, ecosystem health, water quality and climate change within the social and political context of the European continent.

Judged by a panel of European experts and administered from the IRF Europe office in Vienna, the first IRF European Riverprize will be awarded in 2013 - International Year for Water Cooperation. The prize will be awarded at the European Centre for River Restoration annual conference in Vienna. Please click here for a list of eligible countries.

Applications will be assessed based on a documented river management framework, evidence of social and economic gains, an integrated approach to river management, long-term vision and demonstrated, outstanding achievements in river ecology.

The European winner will qualify as an automatic finalist in the Thiess International Riverprize the following year. PLEASE also add any river restoration case study submitted on to the River Wiki

link to enter prize

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This month includes our events addressing hydropower and river restoration and the role of planners and architects in river manager.  Also the design awards being run by the RSA and an over view of our upcoming events.

If you are a planner involved in river management we would like to hear from you.

The RESTORE team is busily writing a handbook about river restoration for spatial planners and developers who do not have a background in this subject. It will be a practical summary of our approach and will explain what we want to achieve, why it is important and how we do it to get the best results. 

If you are a planner we would love to have your help in shaping this handbook so we can produce the information you really need. 

If you'd like to help please contact us on: restore@environment-agency.gov.uk

The Royal Society of Arts, in conjunction with the Environment Agency, are asking students to design or update a method of tackling water pollution. The aim is to reduce the impact of man-made structures, restore natural features to water environments, and to reduce the impact of water pollution. 

Two awards are available for this brief, including a paid internship at the Environment Agency or an RSA Fellows Award of £1250. 

Submission requirements for the competition can be found on the RSA's website 

Download this brief (PDF)