| In the past decades, several EU projects have focused on an inter-estuarine comparison but mainly focused on biological parameters. Except for the TIDE project no recent projects focused on an inter-estuarine comparison of both abiotic and biotic parameters, to get insight in fundamental relations underlying the development of these systems. These insights are strongly needed as both the maintenance of the economic function and the conservation of the ecological values require enormous investments on top of the major costs for flood protection. In order to achieve this, we bring together scientists of North West European estuaries that are meso- to macrotidal and impacted by human activities, with a long-term data history. We will create a meta-data overview on available dataseries, coordinate data uniformization and data management that will result in a unique central repository on geomorphological, hydrodynamical and ecological parameters. We will organize multiple thematic meetings to tackle specific questions that are already identified as overarching crucial issues by the participants in this project. |
