Past floods and society

Abstract

In September 2025, 40 delegates from 14 countries across Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania presented their latest paleoflood research at the FLOODS Working Group (FWG) workshop in Prague (Schulte et al. 2025a) — one of the world's most remarkable historical flood-reference sites. The conference organized by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) and the University of Barcelona focused on: i) providing robust datasets for future risk scenarios, adaptation and mitigation strategies by integrating space-time flood information across disciplines; and ii) how, when and where river floodplains and coastal areas were profoundly transformed by societies, thus changing flood dynamics and providing evidence of the Anthropocene.