Between August 19th and 23rd, Dr. Jiri Morawetz from Jan-Evangelista-Purkyně-Universität, Ústínad Labem, visited the Chair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technical University Munich, in Freising, Germany.

The EU project PHUSICOS and the study area on the Isar were of particular interest. "River restoration has become an important and controversial topic in the Czech Republic in recent years. The Isar restoration is a showcase example how restoration can increase nature conservation values, enhance flood protection and provide more space for recreation", said Morawetz. The Isar experience with renaturation and nature-based solutions can provide valuable inspiration for comparable projects in the Czech Republic.

Dr. Morawetz also wanted to learn about the results of completed projects such as the Urban Forest 2050 project and other current topics of nature conservation, climate change and the challenge of increasing recreational use in mountain regions. Field excursions to the Allgäu region illustrated these topics such as the challenges to adapt to climate change and to increasing tourism development in protected areas. The Allgäu area provides good examples of multiple use of landscape. Approaches are applied to combine biodiversity and landscape conservation, sustainable use of natural resources as well as regional marketing of agricultural and forest products. The aim is to maintain mountain and rural landscapes with high biodiversity and aesthetic values.