Back to Nature. Largest renaturation construction site in Europe completed
The Emschergenossenschaft celebrated the completion of the Emscher transformation on the renaturalised Emscher, worth 5.5 billion euros investment in 30 years, in the city of Castrop-Rauxel.
Yesterday, September 1st, the Emschergenossenschaft celebrated the completion of the Emscher transformation on the naturalised Emscher in the city of Castrop-Rauxel with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Minister of Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Construction and Digitalisation of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia Ina Scharrenbach, and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Paetzel, Chairman of the Board of Emschergenossenschaft and Lippeverband.
It was a decisive moment for the entire region because the Emscher was known as a smelling sewer and not a river. But now, nature is returning because “what matters is that we set ourselves big, bold goals,” as Scholz said. It is an example of how the restoration of natural conditions of running water can benefit the whole ecosystem and save maintenance.
As the Minister remarked, everything is in flux, “Pantha Rei”, and, with the help of “water, as the driving force of nature”, as Prof. Dr. Ulrich Paetzel, Chairman of the Board of Emschergenossenschaft and Lippeverband quoted Leonardo da Vinci, “we have the power to shape nature”.
The Emschergenossenschaft developed what was initially exclusively a water management project into a lighthouse project with a substantial urban development impact. The Emscher has been free of sewage since the turn of the year 2021/2022. Parallel to the canal construction, more than 150 kilometres of riverine landscapes along the Emscher and its tributaries have been revitalised recently: the concrete corset was removed, and the banks were made flatter and more versatile. These goals go back to the 1980s, when Andreas Kipar wrote an article about the renaturalisation of the Bruckhausener Mühlenbach, a tributary of the Emscher, for the Italian Landscape Magazin ACER in 1985.
The renaturation of the Emscher is a fantastic example of the great goals we can reach if we cultivate transformation, obviously #leadingwithlandscape.
The whole ceremony can be seen on YouTube (German only)
More information regarding the Emscher, also here.
