SFW Delivers Interactive River Restoration Solution for the Environment Agency
Woking, Surrey – 03 September 2012 – SFW, and its client the Environment Agency, are delighted to announce that River Wiki http://riverwiki.restorerivers.eu is now live.
This interactive knowledge management system which works like Wikipedia enables the collation and sharing of information on river restoration projects across Europe.
This Wiki-style web-based information tool, built using Open Source technology, is expected to be used by European government agencies, engineers, ecologists, planners and other parties involved in restoring rivers. It is expected that by sharing and being able to comment on information about the experiences of river restoration in Europe that ideas for best practice will quickly emerge.
http://riverwiki.restorerivers.eu has been developed by the RESTORE partnership for river restoration in Europe, a project funded by the European Commission’s LIFE+ Programme which supports environmental and nature conservation projects throughout the EU.
Commenting on the launch, Toni Scarr, RESTORE project manager at the Environment Agency said “This system is key to allowing policy makers, river basin managers, river restoration practitioners and experts to develop the tools and skills to restore rivers and create sustainable river environments. The creation of this public website will allow users, for the first time, to share information on river restoration projects from around Europe.”
Peter Hornsby, Director of SFW said “SFW is delighted to have developed and delivered the Open Source site for the Environment Agency and the RESTORE Partnership for this important project. It is great to be delivering something that will not only facilitate knowledge sharing and skills development but, hopefully, also indirectly assist in improving the ecological quality of Europe’s rivers.”
About the RESTORE Partnership
RESTORE is a partnership which aims to develop tools and skills by sharing knowledge and promoting best practice on river restoration in Europe. It encourages the restoration of European rivers and floodplains for increased ecological quality, flood risk reduction, social and economic benefits. It is managed jointly between public organisations in the UK, the Netherlands, Finland, Romania and Italy and is funded by the LIFE financial instrument of the European Commission. www.restorerivers.eu
About SFW
SFW delivers business application services including software, consultancy, hosting and support to public and private sector organisations. It is the IT partner responsible for a number of business-critical climate change systems including the Greta and Seringas Registries and ETSWAP the Emissions Trading Scheme Workflow Automation system used by the Environment Agency for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification. SFW has a deep understanding the complexities of implementing these systems and uses this knowledge to deliver streamlined, effective emissions management, registry and connectivity tools.
About The Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (the EA) is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) and resides under the sponsorship of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the National Assembly for Wales (NAW). It is the leading public body responsible for protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales.
The EA is structured into 7 regions and 21 areas. Further information on the Agency and its activities can be obtained from www.environment-agency.gov.uk/restore
