Danube Watch 1/2016 - Ministerial Meeting: highest political endorsement for the ICPDR

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Ministerial Meeting: highest political endorsement for the ICPDR

The ICPDR convened its third Ministerial Meeting, bringing together ministers and representatives from all Danube countries, as well as NGOs and observer organisations, to define water management priorities in the Danube Basin for the future.

a bridge over a body of water

Making the river a part of the occasion, the Third ICPDR Ministerial Meeting convened in a penthouse in Vienna's Donau City, overlooking the Danube on a crisp winter day.
© Schedl/ICPDR

“A cleaner, healthier and safer Danube for everyone to enjoy." Participants in the third ICPDR Ministerial Meeting, convened at Vienna on 9 February 2016, heard this line on several occasions. It illustrates three key elements of the ICPDR’s management plans with concrete examples: “cleaner” for the chemical water quality or the purity of water; “healthier” for ecological water quality or the water bodies as home to animals and plants; and “safer” for the people to live with the water without having to fear floods.

It is a simple message that sums up why the technical management plans are so important for making the lives of over 80 million people in the Danube Basin more enjoyable. Some 15 ministers and high-level representatives expressed their commitment to this message, and they were backed by representatives from observer organisations and distinguished keynote speakers who showed how important cooperation is in the sphere of water management. In linking the ICPDR with the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, the European Investment Bank and the OECD, President Peter J. Kalas chaired a meeting in the spirit of 'think global, act regional'.

The photos represent just a 'best of' selection from the Ministerial Meeting. If you would like to see more, you can find over 200 photographs at: http://icpdr.org/mm16

a group of people in a room
 
a group of people sitting at a desk
 
a man wearing a suit and tie
 
a group of people sitting at a table
 
a couple of people that are talking to each other
 
a person wearing a suit and tie
 
a group of people sitting at a table
 
a group of people standing in a room

Ministers and high-level representatives responsible for water management from the Danube River Basin countries Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and the European Commission endorsed the Danube River Basin Management Plan Update 2015 and the First Flood Risk Management Plan for the Danube River Basin, and adopted the Danube Declaration.
© all photos: Schedl/ICPDR

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