Field season 2026
FLOW starts its sixth field season together with the Deutschen Angelfischerverband (DAFV) und dem UFZ/iDiv as a flagship project of the Nationales Monitoringzentrum zur Biodiversität (National Biodiversity Monitoring Centre).
We would be delighted if you join us again this year – or participate for the first time – and help investigate local streams!
To prepare for the upcoming field season, we will host two online information sessions about conducting a FLOW monitoring survey:
- Saturday, 31 January 2026 (13:00–15:00)
- Tuesday, 3 February 2026 (17:00–19:00)
During these sessions we will:
- introduce the FLOW project and the 2026 field season
- answer open questions
- share practical tips
- prepare you for the fieldwork
These trainings are mainly intended for new and experienced group coordinators, but anyone interested in learning more about the project is welcome.
To participate, please register by 28 January 2026 using the registration link here.
After the registration period has ended, you will receive a Zoom link and access details.
Further preparation
Following the online sessions, participants will be able to register in early February for the FLOW project 2026 and for our full-day in-person training courses on macroinvertebrate identification.
These courses are primarily intended for FLOW macrozoobenthos experts and group coordinators. They will take place between mid-February and April 2026 in several cities, including Erfurt, Munich, Stuttgart, Holler/Montabaur, Hamburg, and additional locations (exact dates will be announced once confirmed).
From each new group, one to two people should participate in an in-person training session. Individual participants from experienced groups may also attend depending on capacity.
If you have not yet done so, please consider subscribing to our newsletter at www.flow-projekt.de to receive further updates.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via email:
You can find a detailed description of the tasks for group coordinators below.
Macroinvertebrate Experts Wanted
Do you work in freshwater ecology or river ecology, or are you involved with these topics in your free time? Are you experienced in identifying macrozoobenthos?
We are looking for biologists and macroinvertebrate experts who would like to support our volunteer groups during their stream surveys, particularly with identifying macrozoobenthos to the family level.
Support can include:
- assisting a group on the day of the field survey (approximately half a day at the stream)
- teaching macroinvertebrate identification skills during a group’s preparation meeting
- helping with identification afterwards, for example using photos or preserved samples
If you are interested in supporting the project, please contact us at
Stonefly larva (family Perlidae) (Foto: S. Tannenberg)
Former field season
From April to June 2024, the fourth FLOW field season took place with 60 participating groups at over 70 stream sites across Germany! Thank you very much for this great commitment! We evaluated the data and discussed the results with you at the FLOW project conference on 23 September 2024 in Leipzig.
Would you like to take part on the next conference? Then send us an email to
Here you will find a detailed description of the tasks for group leaders.
Tasks of FLOW Group Coordinators
We recommend dividing the responsibilities between two coordinators: (organisational task "A" & scientific / technical tasks "B")
