About Us
Welcome to SERE, the European chapter of SER.
SERE, created in 2013 is the European chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration, the global non-profit organisation for ecological restoration. We are a European-wide association, registered in Belgium, with 500 scientific and expert practitioner members across Europe, and globally, including restoration research centres, non-profit organizations and private companies. We operate as a ‘network of networks’ in collaboration with national restoration organisations across the EU.
Our mission is to foster the exchange of knowledge and expertise among ecological restoration practitioners and scientists from diverse disciplines and backgrounds, and to communicate leading-edge tools, technologies, science, and development opportunities. To this aim, we promote sister structures at the national level, as well as partnership agreements at the continental level.
We actively promote best practices and effective restoration policy. We work to ensure that ecological restoration is recognized and utilized as a fundamental component of global conservation, biodiversity and sustainable development programs, and that projects are designed and implemented to provide people with the opportunity to repair ecological damage and improve human wellbeing. We do this through practical and policy dialogue, networking, training, guidance, quality standards, publications and alike.
Our Commitment
- We facilitate dialogue among restorationists, both scientists and practitioners, by organising conferences, workshops, webinars and training courses, and by assisting networking and engagement in partnership projects.
- We provide practical advice for cost-effective restoration.
- We provide guidance for research and promote research networks.
- We publish the SER International journal Restoration Ecology, SER Europe Knowledge Base (ISSN 2295-5704) and many other key documents on ecological restoration and maintain the Restoration Resource Center.
- We have published reference tools for ecological restoration as the ‘Primer on ER’ and the International Standards for the
Practice of Ecological Restoration. - We promote awareness of and public support for restoration and restorative management;
- We contribute to public policy discussions.