Taking the right steps: a followup project for the Danube River Basin Management Plan
Taking the right steps: a followup project for the Danube River Basin Management Plan
An EU-funded project has strengthened the likelihood for success in implementing water management plans in the Danube Basin by addressing needs at the transboundary level and providing all stakeholders with the tools they need to meet requirements. To facilitate discussions between relevant experts and stakeholders several workshops and a conference have been organised in the frame of this EU-grant project.
In 2010, the ICPDR received a grant from the European Union to implement projects over a two-year period to aid implementation of the Danube and Tisza River Basin Management Plans. The main objective was to support activities related to filling data gaps in the Danube River Basin Management Plan, integrating environmental concerns and water aspects and incorporating other sector policies into river basin management as well as to incorporate consideration of the effects of climate change into river basin management. To meet these ends and to bring relevant experts and stakeholders together to discuss on specific issues, five workshops were held on WFD ecological status assessment, hydropower, river and habitat continuity, agriculture and the Joint Programme of Measures, as well as a larger conference on hydropower and water management, all supported by the EU Grant – DRBMP-2012.
WORKSHOP ON EU WFD ECOLOGICAL STATUS ASSESSMENT
September, 26-28, 2011
Senec, Slovakia
The workshop was an opportunity for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine to improve the data collection process and the evaluation methods of biological quality elements for the assessment of ecological status as required by the EU Water Framework Directive.
WORKSHOP ON HYDROPOWER AND WATER MANAGEMENT
February, 21-22, 2012
Timisoara, Romania
Organised by Romania in cooperation with Austria, Slovenia and the ICPDR Permanent Secretariat, participants shared experiences on balancing the requirements of renewable energy development and the EU Water Framework Directive, gave feedback on the ‘Assessment Report on Hydropower Generation in the Danube River Basin’ and gathered input for the development of the ‘Guiding Principles on Hydropower Generation for the Danube River Basin’.
WORKSHOP ON RIVER AND HABITAT CONTINUITY
September, 4-5, 2012
Vienna, Austria
Supporting activities to address pressures from river and habitat continuity interruptions, the workshop, organised by Austria and the ICPDR Permanent Secretariat, included theoretical sessions on the Ecological Prioritisation Approach helping to identify priority barriers for continuity restoration measures on the basin-wide scale, and discussion towards the development of the ICPDR Technical Paper on Fish Migration Aids. In addition, the workshop included excursions to three fish migration aid sites to gain insight into practical solutions.
WORKSHOP ON AGRICULTURE AND WATER MANAGEMENT
November, 5-6, 2012
Bucharest, Romania
To aid the dialogue between agriculture and water management, this workshop brought stakeholders together to indentify the obstacles or constraints of measures related to the agriculture sector in the Danube and Tisza River Basins, discuss how those activities impact water ecosystems and develop appropriate solutions.
FERENCE ON HYDROPOWER AND WATER MANAGEMENT
March, 26-27, 2013
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Organised by Slovenia and the ICPDR Permanent Secretariat, this conference was held to discuss the results of work over the last two years to build a dialogue between energy and environment administrations, the hydropower sector, NGOs and the scientific community. The conference introduced and allowed for discussions of the draft ‘Guiding Principles on Sustainable Hydropower Development in the Danube Basin’ and included presentations of practical examples for its application.
WORKSHOP ON JOINT PROGRAMME OF MEASURES
April, 4-5, 2013
Vienna, Austria
The ICPDR held this workshop to provide an overview on the status of the implementation of the Danube Joint Programme of Measures as well as to learn about funding needs and existing potential funding opportunities for the implementation of the committed measures. The workshop served as a platform to summarise the commitments of the Danube countries and discuss future actions to reach the Danube-wide objectives.
