Main themes are:

• Flooding in towns and agricultural areas due to rising groundwater tables caused by changed precipitation patters
• Saltwater intrusion into freshwater reserves due to rising sea levels and changed irrigation, drainage and drinking water demands
• The need for a groundwater buffer to store water in periods of excess rainfall. The buffer of fresh water can be used for irrigation in dry periods.
• Better knowledge and management of soil conditions, which will provide better resilience to extreme rain events and improve water quality as well as crop yields.
• The capacity to break down nutrients and other environmentally harzardous pollutants in the uppermost layers is yet unexplored. By improving our understanding, better land management can be implemented.

Interessen Im Fluss contributes to the project in several ways:

• On behalf of the OOWV (Oldenburgisch-Ostfriesischer Wasserverband [Water Association of Oldenburg & East Frisia]), we coordinate the planning and implementation of a series of workshops to promote an effective, transnational dialogue on the main topics between the partners. In addition, we provide support for further partner & public events as well as for proposal development.
• Also, upon demand we provide support for the lead beneficiary Region Midtjylland in project management, preparation and facilitation of the international partner meetings and policy days.
• We also contributed to developing the original and the extension proposal.
  

Because we are convinced that this can be really useful to the partners, we also volunteered to design and co-edit a practical overwiev about several participatory methods: Inman, A., Bendall, B., Borowski-Maaser, I. (2017). Stakeholder Involvement Strategies. A guide for Topsoil Pilots.

TOPSOIL is an Interreg project fundy by the North Sea Programm of the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union.