The food water energy nexus in an urban context: Connecting theory and practice for nexus governance

The growing body of literature on the Food-Water-Energy (FWE) nexus during the last decade covers a variety of disciplinary perspectives and spatial scales. However, to date the urban FWE nexus has received less attention. In this paper, we review the FWE nexus literature with the focus on urban scale and identify gaps in the scholarly knowledge base with regard to practical applications for the FWE nexus governance in cities. Our findings suggest that there is still a mismatch between theoretical nexus governance and community perceptions. Successful governance is an iterative process, necessitating stakeholder input, reflection and response. While research developing the body of urban FWE governance knowledge has increased rapidly, reflection on those results to unpack the nexus complexity and support different governance actors is still limited. We discuss an approach for making the FWE nexus connections more visible and practical by focusing on the urban governance actors and illustrating the intersecting interests and concerns of different actors within the food, water, and energy systems. Mapping the urban governance actors to the sub-elements of the FWE systems highlights common connections and overlapping interests, paving the road toward more integrated governance and participatory solutions. Identifying the tangible and intangible connections among governance actors also helps to reduce the ambiguity of the FWE nexus, and facilitates multi-stakeholder knowledge, data or resources sharing. The resultant approach aims to disaggregate the complexity of the FWE nexus and make its governance more attainable in cities

Aboveground biomass and carbon stock of the riparian vegetation in the Danube Delta

Intact wetlands can act as carbon sinks and mitigate increased amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere following climate change. In addition to organic soils, the riparian vegetation plays an important role in carbon storage and cycling within wetlands. In the context of the project ‘EDAPHIC-BLOOM Danube’, the riparian vegetation in the Danube Delta was investigated. Preliminary results show differences in aboveground biomass and carbon content between softwood and hardwood riparian forests and artificial poplar plantations. The aboveground biomass in the reed beds is much lower per plot, but due to their huge extension, they are very important for carbon storage

Session E6: Monitoring Strategy of Sturgeon Behaviour to Ensure Functionality of Future Fish Passes: The Iron Gate II Case in the Danube River

Abstract: Preliminary study on sturgeon behaviour funded by the Dutch Partners for Water Programme and the ICPDR Secretariat (2014) has proven that beluga and stellate sturgeons still arrive at Iron Gate 2 dams (Danube R Km 862.8). High water current and impossibility to access Serbian reach of the Danube in the tailrace of Iron Gate 2 HEP (330 m wide) has prevented us from conducting triangulation with the mobile receiver to detect position of the sites where the beluga sturgeon male tended to congregate. The preparatory project funded by the European Investment Bank Luxemburg (2014 - 2015) has adopted a monitoring strategy to achieve the required resolution to positioning the fish pass entrance(s). The strategy is based on four components: (i) detailed 3D bathymetry of the bottom of the river in the area of the tailrace in Romanian and Serbian territorial waters, (ii) water flow velocity profiles recorded at intervals of 100 m, (iii) combined acoustic and radio telemetry tests to achieve the required resolution needed to determine preferred positions in the river of adult sturgeons arriving downstream the dam, and (iv) integration of behavioural data with genetic analysis to distinguish phylogeny of tagged sturgeons in relation to migration seasons and known population segments. Telemetry tests at Iron Gate 2 dams will be conducted by teams from Romania and Serbia under the guidance of a Norwegian expert. Results of this preparatory project fill be incorporated in the planning of a three year large scale study of the behaviour of sturgeons and other migratory fish at Iron Gate dams and reservoirs

Urban Living Labs: how to enable inclusive transdisciplinary research?

The Urban Living Lab (ULL) approach has the potential to create enabling environments for social learning and to be a successful arena for innovative local collaboration in knowledge co-creation and experimentation in the context of research and practice in sustainability transitions. Nevertheless, complex issues such as the urban Food-Water-Energy (FWE) Nexus present a challenge to the realization of such ULL, especially regarding their inclusiveness. We present ULL as a frame for a local knowledge co-creation and participation approach based on the project "Creating Interfaces - Building capacity for integrated governance at the Food-Water-Energy-nexus in cities on the water". This project aims at making FWE Nexus linkages better understandable to the stakeholders (citizens and associations, city government, science, businesses), and to facilitate cooperation and knowledge exchange among them. This paper focuses on and discusses inclusiveness as a key aspect and challenge of ULLs and on what literature and our experiences in this regard suggest for the advancement of the concept of ULL towards ULL 2.0. These findings often also relate to framing transdisciplinary research in a wider sense

Spatial movement of the Wels catfish (Silurus glanis) in the Danube

Wels catfish (Silurus glanis, Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the most targeted species for recreational and commercial fishing in the Danube River, even though studies of behavior and movement patterns of Wels catfish in the Danube are rare. Wels catfish was caught downstream of Iron Gate II hydropower dam and tagged with an ultrasonic transmitter (Vemco Ltd, V16TP). Nine autonomous receivers (Vemco Ltd, VR 2W) recorded detections of spatial movement downstream of Iron Gate II dam between Serbia and Romania for almost two years, between the years 2015 and 2017. Our telemetry data found that Wels catfish exhibit relatively short movements within a maximum range (≈ 12 km), but as a territorial species most of the time it was recorded by the two receivers, close to the Iron Gate dam and location where it was caught. The longest displacement from the preferable place under Iron Gate II dam was migration to Romanian ship lock and turbines located in the right arm of the Danube River. Location under the river dam is already recognized as a place of aggregation of the fish and thus preference of predatory catfish is strongly connected with food availability. Our data revealed that dam and ship lock blocked further migration of this fish. The last signal received was during the winter 2017, which was a period with extremely low temperature and ice cover on the Danube River. Considering the fact that the ice displaced whole receiver deployment downstream the dam, we might conclude that the tagged catfish disappeared because of ice movement during the winter season. Results can be used for management ensuring habitat requirements and developing of restoration and conservation strategies

Circadian activity of the Wels catfish (Silurus glanis) in the Danube River

In this study, the movements and behaviour of Wels catfish (Silurus glanis, Linnaeus, 1758) were monitored during the different seasons when the water level in the river changed significantly. Wels catfish was caught on the Danube River, rkm 863, and tagged with an ultrasonic transmitter. Deployed Vemco receivers recorded detections of spatial movement between years 2015 and 2017. Our telemetry data found relatively short movements within a maximum range (~12km), but as a territorial species most of the time it was recorded by the two receivers, close to the Iron Gate dam and location where it was caught. Circadian rhythm showed that in the summer period, nocturnal activity is evident while during winter Wels catfish stayed most of the time at the same depth under the water surface. Wels catfish changed depths during the autumn and spring when more activity was recorded. The last signal received was during the winter 2017, which was period with the low temperatures and ice cover on the Danube River. This research shows the value and importance of installing coded acoustic transmitters in fish and monitoring their movement using a series of autonomous receivers deployed in the Danube River. Research by telemetry can be used to better understand fish behaviour and movements and to help improve large river management measures

Examples and lessons for best practices for Danube River revitalisation

The ecological balance of Danube River has suffered alteration processes because of continuously development of human society. In the alteration process of the Danube have been destroyed dominating natural systems and created instead industrial structures with economical purpose such as navigation, hydro-energy, agriculture, harbours that are damaging the Danube River by losing the floodplains and natural morphological structures. In this context the necessity of enhanced measures for ecological restoration is an inevitable consequence of ecosystem degradation at functional and structural level. This paper emphasizes examples and lessons of best practices for Danube River revitalization assessed within SEE project DANUBEPARKS. In gathering the information needed, questionnaires were completed by several restoration sites along Danube River in order to develop a conceptual framework and a matrix of criteria for restoration projects assessments. The results highlighted a lack of ecological restoration projects-information data base as well as restoration ecology is still in its infancy and the literature pertinent to river restoration is rather fragmented. Many revitalization projects were planned or realized without prior knowledge of their potential for success or failure, although, theseprojects greatly contributed, as examples, to our present understanding of river-floodplain systems. Successful Danube Riverand wetland restoration demands an interdisciplinary approach in order to understand how the Danube River and Danube floodplain system function

Some application with LIDAR data for Fermecatu Islet (Călărasi county, Romania)

This paper presents some possibilities of applications of the LIDAR data. As a case study is used an islet on the Danube River closed to Calarasi town, Fermecatu islet. In the first part it is presented a way to handle the LIDAR transformed data and the creation of a digital terrain model (DTM). Later on there are presented some useful and facile application of using DTM. The data that were used in present paper derive from a big project named: “The Danube River, Lower Floodplain, ecological and economical resizing”, financedby the Ministry of Environment

The analyse of the geographical DDBR’s landscape dynamic using Land and Ecosystem Accounting (LEAC) methodology

The paper presents an evaluation of the main indices regarding the functionality of the land use systems and an exposure of Land Ecosystem Accounting methodology developed by the European Agency (EA), starting from the existing Corine land Cover information. The purpose of LEAC analyze is to reflect the changes survenite in the land cover categories in DDBR, having in consideration the forth level of the Work Flow Analyze – functional accounts