In 1985, Harald Grip and Allan Rodhe published the book ”Vattnets Väg från Regn till Bäck” (Water’s Journey from Rain to Stream) in 1985. Its combination of recent breakthroughs in the understanding of runoff generation and water residence time with a well-grounded tradition of hydrological science in the Nordic landscape, contributed to the book becoming the standard hydrological text in Scandinavia and Finland. To mark the 30th anniversary of its publication, this session will address developments in the key concepts presented in the book: Water residence times and flow paths, together with their implications for runoff generation and water quality. Of particular interest will be the transferability of ideas from Scandinavia to other geomorphological and climatic settings. In conjunction with this session, a special issue of Hydrological Processes will be published, and an English language, Open Access edition of the book will hopefully be presented as well.