Matt Parr has spent nearly 30 years restoring natural processes in modified lowland UK riverscapes. As a geomorphologist at the Environment Agency in England for the past 13 years, he works in the drained landscapes of Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, advising colleagues and collaborating on river restoration projects. His experience spans managing fluctuating water levels and restoring groundwater-fed limestone rivers through reintroducing living and dead wood to support self-recovery. Matt has helped design and deliver numerous river restoration schemes, including Stage 0 and Stage 8 projects across England, promoting natural recovery through processes such as tree fall, wood jams, and tufa formation.

Fabien Kufel is the Project Manager for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) at the IUCN French Committee and has been working on this concept for seven years. He was initially involved in setting up the LIFE Integrated ARTISAN project at the French Biodiversity Agency before joining the “Biodiversity Policies” programme at the IUCN French Committee in 2019. There, he notably promoted NbS among local authorities through the development of regional and territorial biodiversity strategies. Since 2023, as part of the “Ecosystems” team, he has been contributing to the wider implementation of the concept both in France and internationally. His work includes authoring publications, evaluating projects, delivering presentations and training sessions, scaling up the IUCN Global Standard, and participating in various multi-stakeholder initiatives.

Senka Šifkovič is an environmental lawyer with a master’s degree in social anthropology who has worked in the non-governmental sector for 25 years. Her work focuses on systems, policies, and regulations concerning environmental protection, nature conservation, and spatial planning, with an emphasis on their improvement. A key part of her efforts is the effective implementation of the Aarhus Convention, particularly public participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice. Through advocacy based on in-depth analysis, she has contributed to significant policy and practice changes. At PIC – the Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment – she has led several successful court cases that shaped environmental decision-making. In recent years, her work has centered on climate change and the protection and restoration of nature.

Romain Bellier is a Project Manager for River Restoration and Flood Management at the Upper Jura Regional Nature Park. He is responsible for the Bienne and Saine watersheds (900 km²) and has over ten years of experience specializing in river restoration in complex and constrained environments. He manages projects from initial concept through to implementation, bringing together elected officials, citizens, water users, and often highly opposing stakeholders across the territory. He oversees a large and diverse portfolio of actions involving multiple partners and levels of governance. His intervention philosophy can be summed up as giving rivers sufficient space and capacity to restore themselves. He actively promotes dam removal, the remediation of former landfills, and the rehabilitation of industrial wastelands along river corridors. He also defends a more comprehensive approach to river management, fully integrated into urban and territorial planning.

Piet De Becker is an agricultural engineer and hydrologist. Since 1989, he has been affiliated with the independent research institute of the Flemish Government, INBO (Research Institute Nature and Forest). The institute supports and evaluates biodiversity policy and management through applied scientific research, as well as data and knowledge sharing. He is a senior researcher in the fields of ecohydrology, plant ecology, and nature management and restoration. Over the past 35 years, he has coordinated a number of research projects focusing on establishing quantitative relationships (dose–effect relationships) for key site conditions that are crucial for the optimal development of groundwater-dependent vegetation and associated plant species in lowland Western Europe. At INBO, he is responsible for the WATINA database (Water in Nature Conservation Areas). He is involved in a large number of nature restoration projects, as well as projects focusing on integrated water management, flood protection, and river restoration in the Flanders region.