{"id":7187,"date":"2025-11-20T09:20:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cfg.edu.pl\/?p=7187"},"modified":"2025-12-19T12:38:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T11:38:22","slug":"europa-szuka-nowych-sposobow-na-zatrzymywanie-wody-polski-glos-na-sponge-summit-w-brukseli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cfg.edu.pl\/eng\/blog\/europa-szuka-nowych-sposobow-na-zatrzymywanie-wody-polski-glos-na-sponge-summit-w-brukseli\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe is looking for new ways to retain water. A Polish voice at the Sponge Summit in Brussels"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On 20 November 2025, Brussels will host the Sponge Summit \u2013 an intensive twelve-hour event launching the European Sponge Landscapes initiative. Over the following four months, the city will become an \u201copen workroom\u201d where experts from across Europe will search for new, effective solutions for landscape retention \u2013 shaping landscapes so they retain more water, reduce the risks of droughts and floods, and support climate change adaptation.<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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The initiative combines an exhibition of projects from different countries, hands-on workshops and public debates. Its aim is to move from isolated examples of good practice towards a coherent European mission for landscape retention and to develop concrete recommendations for EU policies, in particular for the EU Water Resilience Strategy. A key question will be how to use existing legal frameworks, financial instruments and sectoral programmes more effectively to support river and wetland restoration and smarter water management.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Among those invited to the Sponge Summit is Piotr Niezna\u0144ski from the Code for Green Foundation<\/strong> , an expert with many years of experience in initiating and implementing restoration projects in the field. Piotr is co-author of the #CodeForBlue empowerment education programme, where he draws on his extensive, hands-on experience from environmental projects and water resource protection. For years, he has been delivering restoration projects bottom-up in cooperation with local governments, anglers and community leaders \u2013 showing that well-planned actions and even modest support for restoring natural processes can improve the condition of waters, habitats and water-dependent species for the benefit of both people and nature, across divides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In his intervention, he will present how Poland is implementing measures that enhance landscape retention \u2013 including reconnecting rivers with their floodplains, protecting wetlands, restoring spawning grounds and removing barriers that block the migration of aquatic organisms. A particularly important part of his contribution will be the education perspective: using the example of the Code for Blue programme, he will argue that investing in hands-on water and climate education is an investment in the future of water, as today\u2019s pupils and students will become tomorrow\u2019s decision-makers shaping Europe\u2019s water policies and practice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Sponge Landscapes initiative is designed to build a lasting network of cooperation between countries, regions and institutions working on water and landscape retention. The conclusions developed in Brussels will support the implementation of the EU\u2019s water strategy and preparations for the UN Water Conference 2026. In this debate, a strong Polish voice \u2013 grounded in the experience of the Code for Green Foundation \u2013 will also be heard.<\/p>\n

Participants and speakers of the SPONGE SUMMIT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The programme will bring together representatives of key European institutions, scientific experts and leaders of on-the-ground projects. Among them are:<\/p>\n

Hosts and organisers<\/strong><\/h3>\n