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On October 10th and 11th, the much-anticipated biannual Danube Forecasting Forum (DAFF) took place in Budapest, Hungary. Organized in collaboration with the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and the EU Joint Research Center (EU JRC), this event brought together stakeholders from the 13 countries along the Danube and members of the Danube Youth Council (DYC) under EUSDR PA5.

In the wake of what has been declared the nation's 'worst-ever natural disaster,’ more than 70% of Slovenia's territory, predominantly situated in the Danube River Basin, has been severely affected by extreme flooding. The scale of this catastrophe has led to billions of Euros in damages and a tragic loss of lives.

In accordance with Article 4 of the EU Floods Directive (FD), the first milestone in the FD basin-wide implementation is undertaking a preliminary flood risk assessment (PFRA), as well as identifying those areas for which it has been concluded that potential significant flood risks exist or might be considered likely to occur, so-called Areas of Potential Significant Flood Risk (APSFR), as in accordance with FD Article 5.

Rivers are a natural resource that have been a focal point of transboundary governance for centuries. It is challenging to manage them for the benefit of riparian communities – especially if they are transboundary. This requires the development of a water infrastructure to harvest the socioeconomic benefits, while at the same time protecting the ecosystem for future generations.

River Basin Organizations (RBOs) have been established in many of the world’s basins to better coordinate different stakeholders’ actions and foster cooperation instead of conflict. Based on the experiences of several RBOs worldwide, several key characteristics for their effectiveness can be identified.

Freezing weather conditions in the winter months have been a fact of life on the Danube since time immemorial, but the months of January and February 2017 saw many countries in the Danube Basin and its tributaries facing an especially bleak situation.