The Open Rivers Programme offers 27 new grants to support projects in 16 European countries

December 15, 2022

Twenty-seven newly supported projects have the potential to open up over 300 km of rivers through the removal of 31 barriers.

We are pleased to announce a further round of support via the following grant types: catchment development, preparatory works, dam removals, and enabling others to remove dams. In this cycle, the programme is supporting the demolition of four dams, preparing for the removal of 27 dams via preparatory projects, and supporting 10 catchment development projects in nine countries that will identify barriers that could later be removed by the programme.

In this funding round, projects have been supported in nine new countries. In Montenegro, the project team will identify and strategically select small dams that could be removed in the catchment area of upper Zeta which is abundant in biodiversity and displays a high degree of endemism. In North Macedonia, project implementers will develop a nationally applicable methodology and database for the identification of priority barriers for removal by using the Pcinja River catchment as a case study. The database design would then be applicable for use on all river catchments in the country and is intended to lead to the first barrier removal in North Macedonia. Preparatory works for the removal of the Mirusha Dam would be a milestone for dam removals in Kosovo as there have been no dam removals in the country to date. The demolition of the dam would inspire efforts to remove the other smaller barriers on the river so that it eventually becomes fully free-flowing.

Download the Grant Cycle III pdf to learn more about each project. More information and details will be available on our website soon.

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