Due to COVID-19 the 4th meeting of the SedNet Working Group ‘Sediments in Circular Economy’  will NOT be held in Glasgow, but instead be organised online in two sessions:

– 15 April – from 9 to 12 hrs Glasgow time (10 to 13 hrs for most others):
* PFAS and
* mass stabilization

– 16 April – 9 to 12 hrs Glasgow time (10 to 13 for most others):
* upcoming example projects

See for the original meeting info the webpage.

Please inform the SedNet Secretariat if you wish to join the online meeting(s).

On 19 and 20 November 2020, the Navigating a Changing Climate partners will organise a two-day conference as part of the 10th International Conference on Coastal and Port Engineering in Developing Countries (COPEDEC) to be held in The Philippines, hosted by The Philippine Ports Authority.

The Navigating a Changing Climate initiative’s Action Plan recognises the important role of sediment in many places:

• Mitigation, notably Blue Carbon – the role of sediments in the support and management of coastal habitats as important carbon sinks; carbon offsetting opportunities
• How dynamic natural systems, including sediments, might be affected by climate change with potential consequences and challenges for navigation efficiency and safety; related monitoring and adaptive management responses
• Adaptation and resilience – the role of sediments in sustaining, enhancing or creating habitats that capitalise on natural resilience or help strengthen resilience against the effects of climate change; Working with Nature

The SedNet community might therefore be interested in submitting abstracts against any of the following conference themes:

• Moving towards ‘net zero’ emissions of greenhouse gases from port infrastructure including the port estate
• Intermodality and system-level climate change resilience
• Monitoring and adaptive management for responding to change
• Climate change adaptation, including theory and practice, methodologies and case studies
• Optimising operational resilience, including the role of inspection and maintenance
• Flexible and adaptive infrastructure design; Nature-based solutions to improve navigation infrastructure resilience

See for details NaCC website. Deadline for submitting abstracts is 21 February 2020

The December-2019 edition of our eNewsletter is online now.

With reports on our activities related to the Water Framework Directive, updates on activities of SedNet Working Groups, first announcement about the 12th International SedNet Conference in 2021, etc.

12th International SedNet Conference, Lille (France), early 2021

“Sediment Challenges and Opportunities with Climate Change, and Sustainable Development Goals” 

co-organised by BRGM   

The conference topics will soon be announced on the conference-webpage.

Conference date will be announced early 2020. The Call for Abstracts will open in spring 2020.

Virtual workshops on November 13 and 20, 2019

The US EPA Office of Research and Development / Office of Science Policy (ORD/OSP) in cooperation with the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM) is sponsoring a 4-part virtual workshop series to address current challenges at contaminated sediment sites. The aim of the virtual workshop is to provide interactive discussions between subject matter expert panelists and workshop participants. Consequently, each virtual session will feature brief topic introductions by panelists followed by facilitated panelist/participant discussions which will include opportunities for questions and answers, brainstorming, identification of concerns and research needs, and quick spot surveys. Additional time for Q&A has been added to each session. The first two sessions are available in the seminar archives at https://clu-in.org/live/archive/. For more information and to register for the remaining two sessions, see https://clu-in.org/live.

Mid September 2019 SedNet became official member of the Strategic Coordination Group (SCG) of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and Floods Directive (FD).

Through its SCG membership SedNet gets optimal opportunities to raise attention for sediment management in support of European water policy implementation. This is needed as SedNet stated in its 2017 policy brief that European water policy objectives will only be achieved by also integrating sediment in River Basin Management Planning.

For more info on the SCG-CIS-WFD-FD see https://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/objectives/implementation_en.htm

The next meeting of the SedNet Working Group Sediments in Circular Economy  (WG CE3) will be held on October 23-24th, 2019, in and near Bremen, Germany. The preliminary agenda can be found here.

If you wish to attend then please send an email to the SedNet Secretariat.

This recenly published  Methodological Guide  presents how dredged sediments can be beneficially used in road engineering with a view to sustainable development and to the protection of the environment and of populations. This is the result of research carried out by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (DGCE) at the School of Mines of Douai for more than ten years on the theme of using dredged sediments. It is coherent with French regulations and the methodological framework (ADEME, 2010; SETRA, 2011) that prevailed at the time of the work. The proposed methodology was developed by the Ecole des Mines de Douai as part of France’s SEDIMATERIAUX project and may be reviewed in the light of feedback received at the French national or European level.

SedNet promotes since 2004 beneficial uses of dredged sediments, in a perspective of sustainable development and of circular economy. Road engineering is one of these beneficial uses, as it reduces both waste and mineral extraction.

This guide is not intended for use of sediments abstracted from a river system. It is only intended for harbour and canal dredgings, where restitution to river systems is usually not possible – at least economically.

Otherwise, it should be first considered to reintroduce them where the river system may need them, before considering any engineering use.

End of April / early May the abstracts and presentations given at the conference will be uploaded on the website:

https://sednet.org/events/sednet-conference-2019/

Please tell us if you are willing to review papers for a Special (SedNet) Issue of the Journal of Soils and Sediments “Sediments as a dynamic natural resource – from catchment to open sea”. See for details about the Special Issue the Call for papers.