“It’s a miracle what nature gave us, it is beautiful” 

– Valbona Valley local

A hydropower plant in construction on Valbona River

Relevance to my degree…

Currently, I am studying a Masters in Global Health, a field which aims to reduce health inequalities in the face of social, political and economic change. Through further reading I have found that the negative environmental impacts of hydropower are not only detrimental to flora and fauna in the area, but also lead to social impacts that influence the lives of local people. My degree culminates with a thesis which has been the perfect opportunity to be able to conduct research on how hydropower may be impacting upon the lives of local people. I decided to focus on the influence of hydropower on mental wellbeing, as this is something that has received little attention thus far, throughout hydropower construction not only in Albania but also worldwide. 

In Albania…

During my 5 weeks in Tropoja, Northern Albania, I interviewed 15 local people, a majority of whom live in communities dependent on Valbona River  (the largest river in the Eastern Albanian Alps). During interviews that took the form of friendly chats (fuelled by turkish coffee, cheese, walnuts and, of course, homemade rakia), I have been humbled by their unbeatable hospitality, and truly admire the strength communities have demonstrated while fighting for the right to use their river as a means to survive, as their ancestors have done for hundreds of years. Listening to how Albanian people have been disregarded when hydropower developers decide to exploit yet another section of river is a stark reminder of how extreme power and wealth inequalities are increasingly harming the most vulnerable in society.

Local people were keen to share their experiences of hydropower development

While in Albania, I was lucky enough to attend an American Bar Association publication launch in Tirana, which highlights the human rights violations against residents of Valbona National Park during hydropower development. It was inspiring to see different organisations, such as WWF, UNDP, and TOKA, working together alongside local people in the fight against hydropower, and the event was surprisingly positive despite tackling such an upsetting issue.  

Findings (so far)…

While I am yet to transcribe all the interviews and write up my findings, some key issues can already be identified. When the hydropower plants are in operation, there will be problems, such as water shortages, which are detrimental to agriculture, fishing and everyday living. The loss of biodiversity also impacts upon the cultural value of Valbona; local people repeatedly mentioned the natural value of the river, and the mountains that surround it. These issues have impacts upon the wider society such as community disintegration as younger people are forced out of their family homes to build a life where they are not threatened by water shortages, and tensions within the community. A word which came up many times is “justice” (or lack of). People here are aware of the stark inequalities that surround them and call for justice; many believe the courts are never in their favour, but in the palms of those with money. How are they meant to achieve justice? All of these issues culminate in feelings of stress and anger, particularly in regards to uncertainty of the future of their river, and therefore their lives. Undoubtedly mental wellbeing will suffer, however I am yet to formally conclude my findings (if all goes to plan, my project will be finished in August). I am hoping that this project will contribute to existing evidence that questions the true sustainability of hydropower, and highlights that health, both mental and physical, must be taken into account prior to, during, and post construction of any economic development that exploits the natural environment. 

Communities work with nature to make a living from the land around them; this is increasingly threatened by hydropower

The experience I have had in Albania has been phenomenal. Not only have I realised what values and approaches I should use in my future career, I have also become aware of a fight I didn’t know existed a year ago. I have met the most incredible people who show such resilience in the face of adversity, which can only be described as an inspiration. I have fallen in love with Albania – so much so I am already planning my next visit! 

If you would like to find out more about my project, or be sent the final paper, you can email me at t.hartland@student.maastrichtuniversity.nl.

– Tess Hartland

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“I basically came here to learn how I can help my friend Aoos and its tributaries?”

– Dimitris Papageorgiou, student from the Aoos River | Greece

Students and presenters from many different disciplines were invited to look at the threat of hydropower development from a wide range of perspectives. Only by understanding the whole picture, can these rivers be saved. 

EXPERT LECTURES

During the week, mornings were filled with a range of lectures that brought in expertise from the field.
The following topics were covered:

The clean river system

From mountains to the ocean, an endless amount of processes contribute to sustaining healthy river systems. Our expert shed light on the vital interaction between hydrology, morphology, biochemistry and the habitats created by them.

Impacts of hydropower development and alternatives

How the development of hydropower influences the natural processes occurring on a river, with special attention to the rivers in the Balkans. Which alternatives can be considered?

Drivers of hydropower development

Currently, roughly 1.000 hydropower dams exist in the Balkans. The construction of 3.000 more small and big dams are planned. This is not simply driven by the need for renewable energy – there is a whole lot more behind it. We touched base on the complex collision between politics, economics and law. 

Examples from the Balkans

We were delighted to have some of our heroes, the ones that fight for rivers on a daily basis, join us to share their stories. Some are experts in legislative processes, some aim to raise awareness while others focus on sustainable tourism. These examples gave a boost of motivation to all participants. 

With a.o. Steven Weiss, Gabriel Singer, Markus Noack, Andrej Gubina, Pippa Gallop, Dušan Jesenšek

“This was one-of-a-kind. I really liked the diversity of students and presenters. Bringing young people together who can combine a scientific approach with activism to actually use science to ensure that countries improve their practices.”

Pippa Gallop, Bankwatch | Croatia

CORRUPTION GAME AND RIVER CAFE

The afternoons were reserved for more interaction. By participating in serious game–developed by Kasper, one of the first River Intellectuals–students got a first-hand feeling of how corruption plays a major role in hydro development. The River Cafe hosted several discussion rounds which brought in a wide range of perspectives on how the River Intellectuals Network can be most beneficial. 

STUDENT PROJECTS

Throughout the week, the students developed their own ideas and pitched seven inspiring projects to each other, the Soca valley locals and the whole Balkan Rivers Tour crew. 

Thanks to the Free Rivers Fund, the two most promising projects received a small grant to kickstart their projects. Stritih Sustainable Development, a local environmental consulting business, was so impressed by the projects, they donated 250 euros on the spot to award the third place project as well. Judging from their motivation (or the amount of schnapps drunk to celebrate), we can expect some cool activities happening next year, which bring science to the people and vice versa. 

RIVER EXPERIENCE

For most students, the highlight of the week was the River Experience. Finally getting the hands wet let the purpose of the camp really sink in. We celebrated the free Soča, trying out every thinkable watercraft. 

BALKAN RIVERS TOUR 4

The Students for Rivers Camp ran parallel to Balkan Rivers Tour 4. This appeared to be a golden recipe. While the students got inspired by the rock’n roll way of drawing (media) attention to the rivers, the kayakers got inspired to learn more about the rivers they love and what other ways there are to protect them. Discussions continued around the campfire and through jam sessions with  kayakers getting stoked on science and students getting into kayaking.

Maybe even more important, some academics were awakened that activism can be a catalyser for research and knowledge exchange. 

On Saturday, many students and presenters joined BRT’s Free Soca Flotilla, the beer mile and the party. Some danced ‘til sunrise! 

“It was fun, inspiring and energizing to have students and experts from 20 countries working together, exploring the problems and the solutions faced by rivers of the Balkans. We are excited by the amount of cool people who have incredible project ideas; SRC is clearly not just a one-week project, but the beginning of something big!”

– Vera Knook, River Intellectuals Manager |The Netherlands

PHOTOS | Katja Pokorn

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What is Conservation Technology?

Jess at the Swiss Boater-X Championships in 2018

The field of conservation technology is basically when technologists, engineers, and physical scientists cross over into the field of conservation (and most probably take a severe pay cut) and apply their technical knowledge and expertise to real-world environmental problems.

There are several examples of technologists doing this type of work, like Rainforest Connection, who are creating bio-acoustic monitoring systems to prevent illegal deforestation and animal poaching in real-time (they’re basically hanging smartphones in the Amazon and monitoring the natural -and unnatural- frequencies of the rainforest). Or Conservation X Labs, who have several projects in the field of ocean conservation, one of which is a DNA Barcode Scanner: a low-cost, hand-held, field-ready, automated tool to validate the identity of a wildlife or food product to reduce the amount of wildlife products that are trafficked illegally (which are often disguised in processed form). And Wildbook for Whale Sharks, which is a photo-identification library and visual database of whale sharks, where they’re creating pattern-recognition software to identify each shark based on their skin spot/scar pattern from photographs.

Why apply Conservation Tech to the Balkans?

My technological experience is mainly in combustion technologies. This includes acoustic, thermodynamics & heat-transfer, and computational modelling.

The Balkan rivers are a hotspot of ecological value but are being threatened by the construction of thousands of hydropower dams. The reckless construction of hydropower has a chance to be stopped if these rivers are shown to have high ecological value. However, there is a significant lack of such data in the Balkans. This creates an opportunity for technologists to create cheap measurement systems to enable the collection of important ecological data which would otherwise need expensive laboratory equipment or sensors to obtain.

How to apply Conservation Tech to the Balkans?

I’m no natural scientist, so figuring out what kind of data would be useful in order to protect the Balkan rivers was definitely a big challenge for me. I spoke to several biologists and geologists and finally landed on one parameter that I could focus on: sediment transport. Suspended sediment data in rivers is extremely difficult and expensive to obtain with current technology, and there is a need for affordable and sufficiently accurate water turbidity sensing (water turbidity leads to suspended sediment data) for a range of environmental applications. For example, the Vjosa, a river stretching from Greece to the Adriatic Sea, is a large sediment-laden river. If dammed, it is most probable that this sediment would build-up behind the dam, therefore decreasing the reservoir volume and the production capacity of the hydropower plant (HPP). Additionally, the river bed would degrade (causing groundwater levels to drop and disconnecting the river from its floodplain), gravel would erode (with it, spawning areas for many fish species could disappear), and also beaches and wetlands created by the interplay of river flow and sea currents would erode (destroying valuable habitats for fresh and saltwater species alike). These are just some examples of possible detrimental effects a seemingly “harmless dam” can have on an ecosystem that desperately depends on constantly flowing water.

As part of the River Intellectuals network, I am creating a project that aims to develop a smart turbidity sensor with end-to-end integration from data to user. Additionally, I will create a website which will host an open-sourced sensor creation manual and which will act as a data collection hub, presenting results obtained from citizen scientists using the sensors across the world.

Some of the River Intellectuals team at the Balkan River Tour 4 in Romania this Spring. The sign reads “Save the Basca Mare,” a river in Romania with a dam being built on it.

The new highly-resolved measurements will be used to address questions of where and how fine sediment is produced and distributed along the Vjosa River in Albania. This project lays a foundation to expand to other Balkan rivers and other global environmental applications in the future, such as agriculture, soil erosion, lake monitoring, and ecological studies.

If you have some technical skills and would also like to join the River Intellectuals network, you can shoot me an email at jdroujko@student.ethz.ch. You can also email me if you have a generic question about conservation tech, or if you have a cool project idea and need some guidance.

– Jess Droujko
River Intellectual

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