Best Practice Shoreline rehabilitation
Development of a best-practice guide for the revitalisation of lakeshores as part of the Swiss Biodiversity Strategy, focusing on planning, implementation and the sustainable development of resilient aquatic ecosystems.
Factsheet
- Schools involved School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering
- Institute(s) Institute for Infrastructure and Environment IIU
- Research unit(s) Water and Natural Phenomena group FGWN
- Strategic thematic field Thematic field "Sustainable Development"
- Funding organisation Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (Bundesverwaltung)
- Duration (planned) 18.03.2026 - 31.12.2029
- Head of project Prof. Dr. Jolanda Jenzer Althaus
-
Project staff
Linda Ryter
Prof. Dr. Pierre Queloz
Sophia Völk -
Partner
see-land.plan gmbh
EPFL
Verein für Ingenieurbiologie
Hydrique Ingénieurs SA
AquaPlus AG - Keywords Shoreline rehabilitation, biodiversity, aquatic ecosystems, best practice
Situation
As part of the Action Plan for the Swiss Biodiversity Strategy, efforts are being made to encourage biodiversity and resilience in lakes in the face of climate change. A key aspect of the Action Plan is the rehabilitation of lake shores, which both contributes to environmental enhancement and strengthens the resilience of water bodies to fluctuating conditions. Concurrently, there has so far been no systematic analysis of experiences and tried-and-tested solutions that could serve as a guide for future projects. In particular, there are a number of challenges to be addressed with the various shore characteristics, hydrodynamic processes, land-use requirements, and legal and planning frameworks. Against this background, a best-practice guide is to be drawn up, bringing together successful examples, methodological approaches and practical recommendations. It will cover all relevant aquatic areas, including open water zones, shorelines, deltas and tributaries, and provide a sound basis for the planning, implementation and long-term development of lakeshore rehabilitation projects.
Course of action
Development and elaboration of the following products, with a focus on the needs of key stakeholders such as clients and contracting authorities, planning offices (specialist in engineering, landscape architecture or environmental issues), planning authorities, construction companies and students as end-users: Elaboration of a best-practice guide focusing on key steps and success factors for sophisticated rehabilitation projects. A set of criteria or a checklist is to be developed in consultation with FOEN and the SUPSI part of the project j1.1 . Aimed at FOEN, cantonal authorities and planners, it will serve as a guide and a list of requirements for projects that are eligible for funding. It will define project requirements within the framework of the programme agreement, and fundamental aspects of the planning process, particularly with regard to the conflicting priorities of ecology and recreational activities. In addition, approximately ten reference projects will be collected and analysed. For each project, one particularly successful aspect will be identified, described and categorised according to the defined criteria. The selected projects will be assessed against a set of criteria, documented in standardised profiles and plotted on a digital map (GIS layer). Knowledge transfer is planned through Wasser Agenda 21, the renaturation platform for stakeholders in the Swiss water sector, including through articles, seminars and webinars.
