Discover our target regions: The Rhine River

Delve into the Rhine River

The Rhine River is one of Europe’s major waterways, stretching approximately 1,233 km from its origin in the Swiss Alps to the North Sea. Located in the heart of Europe, the Rhine area links nine countries: Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, France, Luxemburg, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The river basin is home to around 58 million people, passing densely populated regions such as the industry-driven Ruhr region in Germany as well as major cities like Basel, Strasbourg or Rotterdam.

The climate along the Rhine River varies significantly from its alpine source to its lowland delta. In the upper regions, a cold alpine climate prevails, with snowfall and glacial melt water affecting the river. As the Rhine descends into lower elevations, it passes through temperate zones with moderate rainfall and mild winters and summers, characteristic of regions in Germany and France. In its lower reaches, particularly in the Netherlands, the river experiences a maritime climate, marked by cool summers and mild, wet winters.

These climatic variations support diverse ecosystems and biodiversity along the course of the Rhine. The riverbanks and floodplains provide habitats for a variety of flora and fauna, supporting wetland birds and mammals. More than 70 fish species, including salmon or eel, which migrate through its channels contribute the rich biodiversity. The Rhine is a year-round habitat for many water birds. From Lake Constance to the delta, the Rhine is also an important resting and wintering area for waterfowl.

What are the challenges?

Unfortunately, the Rhine region faces major challenges and problems that, due to global interdependence, cannot be solved by the region alone and therefore require joint efforts. This article examines two of these challenges illustratively:

  • Water retention: According to the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) in the watershed of the Rhine, water retention is distinctly reduced by intensive farming and forestry, numerous river control measures, vast surfaces for settlements and trade. In addition, the Rhine itself has lost more than 85% of its natural overbank area due to river regulation, straightening and diking. This has led to a distinct acceleration of the runoff of flood waves and to higher flood crests. Between Basel and Karlsruhe, the travel time of a flood wave has been reduced from 64 to 23 hours. These circumstances are having a direct impact on the flooding problems along the course of the river.
  • Economic challenges: The Rhine River is one of Europe’s major waterways, significantly impacting the economy. 80% of all goods transported via rivers in Germany are shipped through the Rhine. Due to receding water levels, ships could no longer be fully loaded on the river route. In recent years, ships were allowed to carry only 50% of their capacity. As a result, experts in Germany forecast a 0.5% slowdown in economic growth for 2022. Besides affecting the German economy, the decrease in volumes also has a severe impact on the port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port and one of the top 10 biggest ports in the world.

What are the solutions?

There are various local, regional and national initiatives along the Rhine aiming to promote ocean literacy as well as protect and preserve the habitat. The Network of European Blue Schools (NEBS) initiative seems still relatively unknown to many schools. Currently only 21 schools are listed as members of the Network. Therefore, further efforts are still needed to emphasize the opportunities for schools, teachers, and students when they join the NEBS.

From the start of the project, the whole SHORE consortium has undertaken joint efforts to spread the ideas and opportunities offered by SHORE among those countries not involved in the project. The fact that those efforts were successful is reflected by the 226 open call submissions from all over Europe indicating a high interest in Ocean Literacy among schools across Europe.

In addition to the variety of national initiatives, there are also transnational initiatives preserving the Rhine and its unique ecosystem:

  • The “Rhine 2040” programme by the ICPR aims to create a sustainably managed Rhine and to open up new paths for the development and implementation of innovative measures in water management. The objectives centre around:

      • Network habitats – more biodiversity: habitats of the Rhine have been preserved, protected and restored and the sediment balance in the Rhine is improved.
      • Good water quality: reduce the influx of micropollutants by at least 30% to the period of 2016-2018 as well as the influx of plastic waste is significantly reduced.
      • Mitigation of flood risks: flood information, forecast and warnings are up to date. Implement measures to reduce flood levels.
      • Managing lower water: develop common assessment and solution approaches to prepare for periods of low water.

  • In recent years, conservation initiatives have focused on enhancing the Rhine habitats, resulting in the return of endangered species. The European otter has successfully been resettled in several areas in Germany. Moreover, since 2008, salmons have returned to the Upper Rhine. Unlike salmon, eels migrate in the opposite direction. The endangered European eel spends most of its time in the rivers, like the Rhine, and then spawns in the Sargasso Sea, an area of the Atlantic Ocean south of the Bermuda Islands.

SHORE’s Country Hubs

To be equipped for future challenges and opportunities for the continuous development of the Rhine basin, international cooperation is required. With its open schooling and co-creational approach, focusing on local as well as global perspectives, the SHORE project, through its Austrian and Hungarian Country Hubs, can contribute to a great extent to sustainable and future-oriented knowledge transfer for future generations and provide an invaluable boost for ocean literacy approaches. The global perspective of SHORE is especially useful for teachers promoting the immediate challenges for water related topics.

Do you want to find out more about SHORE and the Rhine River?

Contact our Austrian or Hungarian Country Hubs!