EcCoENetter 2026-08
Welcome to ECoENetter – Issue #26!
Exciting updates, fresh insights, and upcoming events. This newsletter edition is packed with everything you need to stay connected with the ecohydraulics community!
In the Spotlight
- Early Careers workshop @ ISE-2026 (Lausanne)
- AI Survey launch!
- Field campaign throwback
- Thanks, Desmond
- Mark your calendar
- SUSHP 2027
- 7th Young Professionals Congress
- E-flows and hydropower in Europe
ECoENet workshop at ISE-2026 (Lausanne)
ECoENet, together with the Local Organising Committee of the XVI International Symposium on Ecohydraulics, is organising a pre-symposium workshop that will be held on Sunday 16th August. The workshop will investigate river restoration in Switzerland in general and on a local stream specifically. At the local stream our speakers will guide us through hands-on data collection on a variety of aspects of the riverine environment: Hydromorphology (Volker Weitbrecht), hydraulics (Ismail Albayrak), riparian vegetation (Francesco Caponi), aquatic fauna (Piotr Parasiewicz), and water quality (Jessica Droujko).
We are looking forward to meeting many of you at the workshop and symposium in Lausanne!
Group photo of the 2024 ECoENet pre-conference workshop in Québec, Canada.
AI Survey launch
In the last two years, we have experienced mass-accessibility to AI models, which hold tremendous potential for science and practice. As ecohydraulics evolves toward increasingly data-intensive and interdisciplinary approaches, AI and language-based tools offer significant opportunities to support research, education, and application. Yet in 2024, when we conducted the latest community screening, our community still felt underprepared when it came to such emerging technologies.
That’s exactly why we’re planning a new, focused survey around ISE 2026 in Lausanne. Building on what we’ve learned, we will zoom in on the use of Large Language Models, AI-assisted workflows, ethical attitudes towards these tools, and their expected future effects on research and education.
The survey is already open, and we would love to hear your thoughts. Please take 10 minutes to complete it and help us better understand how AI is shaping the field of ecohydraulics.
Access the survey here: ECoENet Survey
Field campaign throwback
In 2025, a group of researchers from different institutions teamed up to work on post-implementation monitoring and fish ecohydraulics studies in the Koksu River case study located in the Shakhimardan exclave, Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan.
Team: BOKU University, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), TIIAME National Research University, SJE Engineering GmbH, and IGF Jena.
For more information about the study site and the Hydro4U project, visit https://hydro4u.eu/.
Also, check out these new publications from early careers researchers and ECoENet team members associated to the project:
A review of hydropower in Central Asia: Past, present, and future
- A regional-scale framework for assessing sustainable hydropower potential based on open-access data: the case of Central Asia
Environmental flows assessment integrating snow trout habitat requirements in the Shakhimardan basin, Central Asia
Thanks, Desmond
As Desmond Ofosu Anim steps down from his role as ECoENet Social Media manager, we would like to express our sincere gratitude for his enthusiasm and positive spirit over the years. Since joining the network during the Melbourne 2016 International Symposium on Ecohydraulics, Desmond has played an important role in strengthening our online presence. His professionalism and consistently positive attitude have been greatly appreciated by colleagues and friends alike.
We wish Desmond all the very best in his future professional and personal endeavours. Although he is leaving this role, he remains active in the urban water management sector. Thank you, Desmond, for your valuable contributions and friendship throughout the years!
If you are wondering how to transition out of academia, we can recommend this ECoENet video interview with him:
Mark your calendar
Here’s a list of the next conferences that can be interesting to the ecohydraulics community (we listed them following the abstracts deadlines).
Present Your Work in Lisbon: SUSHP 2027
Are you working at the intersection of hydropower, ecology, and society? The 4th International Conference on Sustainability in Hydropower (SUSHP 2027) is calling for abstracts! And it’s a great opportunity for early-career researchers to share their work and build connections in the field.
Held at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, from 22–25 June 2027, the conference brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and industry representatives around the theme „FlowForward: Rethinking Hydropower to Safeguard Rivers and People in a Changing World.“ Alongside plenary lectures from internationally recognized experts, you’ll find thematic sessions, workshops, and optional field trips to sites like the Douro UNESCO World Heritage valley.
Whether you’re presenting or attending, it’s a chance to grow your network in a welcoming setting as well as to enjoy Lisbon’s history, culture, and riverfront along the way.
Key dates:
- Abstract submission deadline: 31 October 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 10 January 2027
- Early-bird registration: 1 January – 10 March 2027
Learn more and submit at https://sushp2027.com/
7th IAHR Young Professionals Online Congress
Young Professionals are kindly invited to attend the 7th edition of the IAHR Young Professionals Online Congress, which will be held online from 2 to 4 December 2026.
The IAHR Young Professionals Congresses give young professionals, researchers and students the opportunity to present their work and access mentoring from leading global experts. The event is an ongoing annual series organised by young professionals and for young professionals!
All the information about the conference (programme, speakers, etc.) will be published on this page over the coming months.
The congress is FREE and OPEN to ALL. You can register using this link.
Europe-wide survey on e-flow requirements for hydropower
Experts and stakeholders from across Europe are invited to contribute to a comparative study examining environmental flow (e-flow) requirements in the hydropower sector.
The survey seeks to systematically assess how environmental flow requirements are defined, implemented, and regulated in different European countries. The collected insights will support a better understanding of current practices, regulatory approaches, and challenges related to balancing hydropower generation with ecological river management.
The survey requires approximately 20 minutes to complete. All responses will be treated anonymously and confidentially. Results will be analysed and reported exclusively in aggregated form.
You can access the survey here: Environmental Flow Survey
Participants are also encouraged to share the survey with colleagues and professional networks who may have relevant expertise in environmental flows and hydropower.
The study is conducted by an international research team including representatives from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), Eawag, KJ Consult, BOKU University, and the University for Business and Technology.