About
The creation of the Open Rivers Programme was informed by two years of research and stakeholder engagement which revealed that there are around one million dams fragmenting European rivers and that there is much potential and need for dam removal. The research concluded that dams are contributing to the significant decline of biodiversity and that removing them can quickly restore river flow and biodiversity. It also concluded that there is a genuine lack of understanding of the benefits of dam removal and only a handful of organisations promoting and funding it at the European level.
In recognition of the scale of the problem, a significant funding gap and also the opportunity, Arcadia enabled the creation of the Open Rivers Programme in the spring of 2021. A new entity “Stichting European Open Rivers Programme” was formed in Netherlands on 25th June 2021 to manage and implement the programme. It will offer grants to remove small dams and restore endangered European rivers.
The Open Rivers Programme officially began operating in October 2021, with funding from Arcadia, a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge.
Vision, mission and aims
By 2027, the Open Rivers Programme will have enabled many thousands of km of rivers to flow freely again. Where they intervene, they will help to restore natural habitats and enable river ecosystems to be more resilient to changes in climate.
VISION
To create free-flowing rivers with healthy, diverse and connected ecosystems across Europe, which are enjoyed, valued, and protected by the communities that depend on them.
MISSION
To restore endangered European rivers by supporting interventions that lead to the removal of small dams and the restoration of river flow and biodiversity.
Their aim is to provide grants to:
1. Support the removal of small dams in catchments that offer the highest potential for river restoration and ecosystem recovery.
2. Support preparatory work in catchments to prepare dams for removal such as general project development, feasibility studies, provision of technical designs and securing permissions and permits.
3. Support a range of interventions to prepare small dam removal projects with high ecological potential for removal by a third party.
4. Support a range of interventions to enable the European dam removal movement to help ensure that dam removal becomes more widely accepted and implemented.
In addition to its grant making activities, the programme itself will:
