Research

The aim of the study is a consistent estimation of a wide range of low-flow characteristics at observed and unobserved river sites in Austria. For this purpose, novel regionalisation models are to be developed and evaluated with regard to their predictive performance at unobserved sites. A nested model is proposed as the model structure, which takes into account low flow (NQ) of different time scales (year, season, month, minimum observed value) in hierarchical form, in order to obtain consistent estimates of derived mean characteristic values and extreme value statistics. The regionalisation aims at a consistent estimation of natural low flows and uses a data set of at most slightly anthropogenically influenced daily flow series with more than 40 years of observations.

The project supports the revision and creation of a guide for integrating relevant provisions of the Alpine Convention and its protocols into the practice of municipal spatial planning. To this end, the project will carry out a legal dogmatic analysis and develop indicators for assessing planned planning decisions. The results are validated in stakeholder workshops and then published. The project thus contributes to better consideration of the Alpine Convention protocols in planning practice.

The spatial adaptability of brownfields towards reindustrialisation is emerging as a key territorial priority for Danube's regions and municipalities. There are major trends contributing to the rise of industrial manufacturing in Europe: technological advancements make it feasible and affordable, the need for circularity, shorter value chains and closed loops make it necessary, geopolitical reasons and the pandemic showed the need to reduce dependency on global value chains, for more self-sufficiency and resilience. Re-industrialisation needs to take place in the context of a circular and resource-efficient economy and environmental-friendly regional development strategies. Brown is Better than Green BBG principle) Brownfields represent already degraded land. The transformation of heavy industrial sites/polluted wastelands into post-industrial landscape is economically and technically very challenging and costly, while an adaptation for new industrial use is much more feasible. The revitalising existing brownfields for industrial or production-oriented purposes reduces the construction of new production sites in greenfields, avoiding new land use, the sealing of soil and the further loss of biodiversity in the Danube Basin. The reindustrialisation following the Brown is Better than Green principle, represents a complex planning challenge, which requires: - Co-planning and co-creation process in line with the social, environmental and economic priorities of the affected communities, strong involvement of civil society actors - Inter-institutional collaboration on different governance levels solving spatial planning, contaminations or other environment issues, embedding in transport and communication, infrastructure, building and reconstruction (permits), business support, investor management, ... - integration with regional strategies and polycentric development plans - the development of good financing concepts, relying on private-public partnerships The projects will jointly develop solutions and tools based on the Brown is Better than Green principle and integrate them into their local and institutional framework. It aims to come up with a joint strategy and an action plan taken up by organisations.