UPDATE!!! Land4Flood 2025 - Call for papers

26/03/2025

Dear colleagues,
On behalf of the scientific and organizing committees, we invite you to read below the updated version of the call for papers for the Land4Flood 2025 conference.
Only 5 days remain until the abstract submission deadline.
We look forward to welcoming you in Timișoara!


LEVERAGING NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR RESILIENT LAND AND FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT IN ANTHROPOCENE

3 – 5 September 2025, Timişoara, Romania

https://www.researching.ro/en/evenimente/conferinta-land4flood-2025/

land4flood2025@researching.ro

contact@researching.ro

Deadline for abstract submission: March 31st, 2025

Dear friends and colleagues,

Politehnica University of Timisoara through the Support Center for Climate Action in cooperation with IWRA Land4Flood Task Force will organize the 2nd Land4Flood conference in Timişoara, Romania, from September 3rd to 5th, 2025, under the theme "Leveraging Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Land and Flood Risk Management in Anthropocene". The conference will be hosted by the Support Center for Climate Action and will be partially financially supported by Project 39PHE/2024 \"Utilization of private land for mainstreaming nature-based solution in the systemic transformation towards a climate-resilient Europe\", funded by the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI), Romania.

The escalating impacts of climate change are expected to increase the frequency and intensity of flooding, leading to higher human and financial costs. Traditional flood defense mechanisms offer limited protection and can be effectively augmented with nature-based solutions that not only mitigate flood risks but also enhance ecosystem services, such as biodiversity and recreational spaces. Notably, these nature-based approaches typically require more land compared to conventional methods.

The forthcoming LAND4FLOOD conference is dedicated to fostering dialogue and sharing insights on maximizing water storage across catchments, including hinterlands, river floodplains, polders, and urban areas. This conference will particularly focus on the land as a critical element—examining its biophysical attributes, including hydrological components, its value as a socio-economic resource, and its strategic role in flood risk management.

We cordially invite contributions from members of our scientific community, along with policy makers, water managers, spatial planners, lawyers, and other key figures in the realm of spatial flood risk management, to submit an abstract for oral presentations at our LAND4FLOOD Conference 2025.

Conference themes include (without being limited at):

1. Climate Change Impacts on Flood Risk and Land Management

2. Hydrological effectiveness of nature-based measures for flood retention,

3. Hydrology and Land Interactions in Flood Risk

4. Land use conflicts in the implementation of nature-based measures,

5. Regulatory frameworks for nature-based solution implementation,

6. The digitalization of flood risk management and resilience,

7. Community-Based Approaches to Flood Resilience

8. Urban Flood Management and Resilient Cities

9. Transboundary and International Cooperation in Flood Management

10. Economic and financial aspects.

We warmly encourage young academics to participate, with special incentives for PhD students who may apply for a dedicated PhD workshop scheduled during the conference.

Dedicated round tables will be organized for practitioners in flood risk management.

We strongly encourage authors to submit their conference papers to academic journals, offering multiple publication opportunities, including special issues. Outstanding overview and review papers may receive an invitation to submit to WIRES Water, while empirical contributions are especially encouraged for submission to the Journal of Flood Risk Management—both of which have conference organizers as associate editors. Additionally, we will provide recommendations for journal submissions and announce handling guest editors for any special issues. These options ensure broad visibility and impact, particularly for colleagues seeking publication in WoS-indexed journals.

Please ensure that abstracts, limited to 300 words, are submitted in English at land4flood2025@researching.ro

All submissions will undergo a review process by our Scientific Committee prior to acceptance.

The registration fee for the conference will be 250 euro for regular participants and 150 euro for students. Registration fees include coffee breaks, light lunches, gala dinner, publishing of extended abstracts in conference proceedings, certificate of participation.

Registration will open soon.

Key Dates

31 March - Extended deadline for Abstracts

31 May - Notification of acceptance

1 June - Start of Registration

30 July - Final Registration deadline and payment

3 September - Start of the Conference

Scientific Committee

Prof. Dr. Lenka SLAVIKOVA

Prof. Dr. Thomas HARTMANN

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nejc BEZAK

Dr. Sally PRIEST

Prof. Dr. Dennis COLLENTINE

Dr. Barbara WARNER

Prof. Dr. Antje BORNSCHEIN

Dr. Arthur SCHINDELEGGER

Dr. Kristina VEIDEMANE

Dr. Johan BARSTAD

Prof. Dr. Zahra KALANTARI

Dr. Carla Sofia SANTOS FERREIRA

Dr. Rares HALBAC-COTOARA-ZAMFIR

Organizing Committee

Prof. Dr. Lenka SLAVIKOVA

Prof. Dr. Thomas HARTMANN

Dr. Rares HALBAC-COTOARA-ZAMFIR

Local Organizing Committee

Dr. Rares HALBAC-COTOARA-ZAMFIR

Preliminary agenda

Tuesday 2nd September (optional)

9:00 – 18:00 Field trip (scientific and cultural), Participants in this field-trip will pay an additional fee of 100 euro (transport and meals included)

Wednesday 3rd September

9:30 – 10:45 Ph.D. workshop

10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break

11:15 – 12:30 Ph.D. workshop

12:30 – 14:00 Registration & Light Lunch

14:00 – 15:00 Conference opening (Local Host and Chair of LAND4FLOOD) + Keynotes

15:00 – 16:00 Conference sessions

16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break

16:30 – 18:00 Round-table

19:00 Opening reception

Thursday 4th September

9:00 – 10:30 Parallel sessions

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break

11:00 – 12:00 Parallel sessions

12:00 – 13:00 Round-table

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 16:00 General Assembly of LAND4FLOOD Task force

16:00 – 18:00 Thematic excursion in Timisoara organized by hosts

19:00 Conference Dinner

Friday 5th September

9:00 – 10:30 Parallel sessions

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break

11:00 – 12:00 Poster session

12:00 – 12:30 Plenary meeting. Land4Flood 2025 conclusions. See you in 2027 in …

12:30 – 14:00 Farewell Lunch

Venue

The meetings will be organized in the Library of the

Politehnica University of Timisoara (10 min walking

from the city center).

Main activities take place in rooms K1 and K2

located at the first floor.

How to get to Timişoara

By Plane

Timişoara Airport is located 12 kilometers from Timişoara city center. It can be reached using E4 bus. However, we are recommending ridesharing companies (Uber, Bolt) for transfers from/ to airport.

By Car

The campus of Politehnica University of Timişoara is very well located in the city centre. We can provide free parking areas if needed.

Hotel suggestions

All hotels mentioned here are situated in the city center.

Hotel Perla

https://hotelperla.ro/

Hotel Timisoara

https://hoteltimisoara.ro/

Hotel Savoy

https://www.hotelsavoytimisoara.ro/ro

Hotel Reghina Blue

https://www.reghinablue.ro/

Hotel Opera

https://www.opera-hotel.ro/

On behalf of the organizing committee, we warmly invite you to join us at the 'Leveraging Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Land and Flood Risk Management in the Anthropocene' conference to share insights and explore innovative approaches to sustainability and resilience.