The above questions formed the eight thematic sessions of the 2018 conference of the Netherlands Centre for River studies (NCR days 2018). RiverCare researchers covered the entire spectrum of the conference, from geo-morphodynamic processes to involving citizens with monitoring efforts. For the first time in NCR history, presentations were divided over parallel sessions. This was not only necessary to accommodate the (historical) amount of presenters, but also to facilitate specialised sessions for more in-depth discussion that took place both in the oral and poster sessions (see photo).
Snapshots of the poster sessions (Source: NCR days 2018).
RiverCare was present with one third of the contributions
Of the 60 presenters, 20 were from RiverCare with 15 oral presentations and 5 posters. These numbers include several master students who worked on RiverCare projects for their graduation or internship.
Jasper's oral presentation (Source: NCR days 2018).
Among the oral presentations, the session Rivers, Health and ecosystems was dominated by RiverCare researchers Frank Collas and Valesca Harezlak, who accordingly presented about the ecology of longitudinal training dams and floodplain vegetation patterns. Other examples of RiverCare research included but were not limited to:
- Jasper Candel (in the photo), presented about the morphodynamics in low-energy rivers.
- Victor Chavarrias, best poster from previous NCR days who was not able to defend his title. This year he opted for a well-received oral presentation about mixed-size sediment morphodynamics.
- In the book of abstracts, you find the contributions of all researchers to the event.
The beauty of river communication speaker (Source: NCR days 2018).
Great speakers inspired the two-days event
The keynotes followed the conference theme. On day 1, Dr. Toon Bosch (Open University) opened the conference by putting a historical context on looking to the future (as looking to the future is a particularly new concept). On the same day, Dr. Ties Rijcken (Delft University of Technology & Flows Platform) shared an outside view on how to communicate our research and his view (see photo) on the balance between a quantitative and narrative approach. On day 2, Paul Kinzel (USGS) showcased progress in the rapidly developing field of remote sensing. Finally, Ivo ten Broeke (Rijkswaterstaat, Rhine Commissioner) gave a talk on an important function of the river that is perhaps too often overlooked: inland shipping.
Keeping with the traditions and closing the event!
After a long absence, the previous NCR Days rekindled the technical tour. This year, the tour was planned in the afternoon of the first day. We visited Flood Proof Holland, a testbed for entrepreneurs to showcase their innovate flood safety inventions. See in the photo a snapshot of participants going to the technical tour (Source: NCR days 2018). Keeping with tradition, the Conference Dinner ended on a high note with the traditional pub-quiz. The team 10cm, headed by RiverCare spearhead Ralph Schielen (University of Twente, Rijkswaterstaat) supremely cruised to the first place, taking the ‘Delfts Bruin’ spoils home. The last team, meanwhile, had to settle for the NCR flags flying the old logo: a true collector’s item. These NCR Days were a great success, and we are greatly looking forward to the next edition.
Last modified: 13/12/2019