Xavier Garcia, researcher at the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), co-organized the session “Freshwater Ecosystem Services for Restoration, Management, and Policy: linking restoration, valuation and nature-based solutions for research and decision-support”, held on 19 May 2026 as part of the 6a Ecosystem Services Partnership Europe Conference. The conference took place in Prague from 18 to 22 May under the theme “Advancing ecosystem services knowledge for achieving a nature and people positive Europe”.

The session brought together researchers from several European institutions to discuss the role of freshwater ecosystem services in ecological restoration, integrated river basin management, and the development of more effective public policies. Topics addressed throughout the session included the biophysical and socio-economic valuation of ecosystem services, nature-based solutions, river and floodplain restoration, and the integration of these approaches into water planning and the objectives of the Water Framework Directive.

ICRA’s contribution also included the participation of Francesc Comalada i Pla, who presented the work “Monetary Valuation of River Cultural Ecosystem Services to Support Restoration Prioritization in Europe”. The study focuses on the monetary valuation of cultural ecosystem services provided by rivers using social media data at the European scale, as a tool to support restoration prioritization.

The session concluded with a discussion aimed at identifying key issues for a future perspective paper on the role of freshwater ecosystem services in restoration, management, and decision-making processes.