Nature, Biodiversity and Water Systems

Our partners

The impact theme Nature, Biodiversity and Water Systems is particularly relevant where water management, nature, land use and spatial planning intersect. This includes drinking water companies, water authorities, municipalities, provinces, ministries, industry, energy companies, greenhouse horticulture, nature organisations, European research projects, spatial planning and landscape organisations, and other organisations working on freshwater, biodiversity and climate adaptation.

Impact: healthy, biodiverse and resilient water systems

Water management contributes to ecological recovery, biodiversity and resilient ecosystems, while safeguarding sufficient and safe water for people and nature.
KWR develops and assesses nature-based, green-blue and hybrid solutions that use natural processes to retain water, improve water quality and strengthen ecosystems.
By combining knowledge, monitoring, modelling and area-based approaches, we help clients move from understanding to implementation. In doing so, we contribute to water systems that are healthier, more biodiverse, more resilient and more multifunctional, and better able to cope with climate change and other pressures.

What we do

• Restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity

How can we restore nature in ways that are adapted to local conditions and the future climate?
KWR develops knowledge about the interactions between soil, water, vegetation, climate and nutrients. We help nature organisations, water managers and governments understand why ecosystems deteriorate, where restoration can work and which measures are effective under current and future conditions. This supports evidence-based, climate-robust nature restoration connected to the wider water system. Read more: WaterVision Nature – KWR.

• Prevention of harmful substances in the environment

How can we prevent harmful substances from entering water systems and putting ecosystems, biodiversity and drinking water sources under pressure?
KWR investigates how emissions and risks can be prevented at the source and how water quality can be protected. This shifts the focus from managing pollution after it occurs to preventing contamination and strengthening natural resilience.

• Nature inclusive water resources management and nature-based solutions

How can water management make better use of natural processes?
KWR develops and assesses nature-based, green-blue and hybrid solutions, ranging from wetlands, infiltration, and wet cultivation to natural purification, residual-water applications, and green-blue infrastructure.
We investigate where natural processes can be applied effectively, where technical treatment remains necessary, and how the two can be combined safely, reliably, and effectively. In this way, nature and technology can reinforce one another.

• From drinking water source to drinking water landscape

Drinking water is not simply a product extracted from the landscape. It originates from a living water system.
KWR explores how drinking water production, nature, agriculture and other functions can strengthen one another within an area. A drinking water landscape connects water and nature with spatial planning and land use. Other functions remain possible where they support local goals.
This also creates a different relationship with agriculture. Farmers can become partners in protecting and strengthening the water system. The approach to water quality also shifts: from treatment at the end of the chain towards prevention at the source.

Expertise and knowledge domains

KWR combines expertise across diverse knowledge domains to understand and transform the relationships between water, nature and society.
Our expertise includes eco- and geohydrology, ecology, geochemistry, microbiology, toxicology, water quality, monitoring, modelling and data science, complemented by social sciences, water technology and environmental engineering.
We combine process-based knowledge with modelling, monitoring and tools. An emerging perspective connects socio-hydrology and hydrosocial systems: understanding how people and water systems influence each other and how water systems are shaped by both natural and societal processes.

Co-creation

We work with clients and partners in real-world areas, combining scientific knowledge and practical knowledge. Together, we develop applicable solutions for the water system.