Dear IAHS members,

We recently started the Panta Rhei opinion paper series. The purpose of the series is to enrich and improve the Panta Rhei approach via diverse, critical and constructive opinions. For this, we have identified key questions and topics for debate, which will be covered by invited opinion papers over the course of the next two years.

Additionally, we want to motivate a scientific discussion in response to the contributions and topics presented. We sincerely hope for your engagement in this scientific debate. Please contribute your ideas or critique on the opinion papers by writing and submitting your commentary within six months from their online publication. Once the commentary is deemed suitable for publication, the authors of the original opinion paper will be invited to submit a 'Reply to commentary' so that the two (or more) contributions to the formal scientific discussion can be published together in a later issue of the Hydrological Sciences Journal.

The first two opinion papers are “The role of experimental work in hydrological sciences – insights from a community survey” by Blume et al. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02626667.2016.1230675 ) and “Prediction in a socio-hydrological world” by Srinivasan et al. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02626667.2016.1253844).

More details about the idea of the Panta Rhei opinion paper series can be found in the respective editorial “Scientific debate of Panta Rhei research – how to advance our knowledge of changes in hydrology and society?” by Kreibich et al. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02626667.2016.1209929)

I hope for a lively discussion!

Heidi Kreibich, member of Panta Rhei leadership team 2015-2017

More information about the Panta Rhei Working Group can be found on the IAHS website.