The document discusses events that took place on Danube Day 2006 to raise awareness about the Danube River watershed. It notes that over 130 events were held across 13 countries, engaging tens of thousands of people. Events ranged from festivals to educational activities for children. The day inspired international cooperation and highlighted the river as a shared resource. It was celebrated on a large scale and helped make progress toward improving the future of the rivers and communities in the Danube watershed.
Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) 2024Final.pptx
Regional Newsletter 2/2006
1. November
Thank you for your contribution to the GWP! Calendar of Events
TH
AT THE 10 ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE Tabeth Chiuta / former Executive Secretary
GLOBAL WATER PARTNERSHIP, TAKING PLACE for GWP Southern Africa Tool Box seminar
ON AUGUST 20, 2006, IN STOCKHOLM, TWELVE Bert Diphoorn / former Dutch donor
INDIVIDUALS WERE PRESENTED AWARDS FOR Meike van Ginneken / former Network International seminar on IWRM Tool Box
THE ROLE THEY HAVE PLAYED IN THE FIRST DE- Officer for Central and Eastern Europe for academic fellows
CADE OF GWP’S EXISTENCE. and Latin America September 8-9, 2006
John Hodges / former British donor
The award, which consisted of a small glass Johan Holmberg / former GWP Executive Svaty Jur, Slovakia
sculpture in the shape of a drop together with Secretary
the GWP anniversary publication that was Torkil Jonch-Clausen / former GWP Technical European Large Lakes Symposium 2006
launched at the same event, was meant as a Committee Chair
token of appreciation to those that made sig- Simi Kamal / member of the GWP Technical
Ecosystem changes and their ecological
nificant contributions to the organisation, es- Committee and GWP South Asia and socioeconomic impacts
pecially in its early years. Janusz Kindler / former Chair of GWP Central September 11-15, 2006
and Eastern Europe
The selection process was a rather informal Khalid Mohtadullah / former GWP Executive
Tartu, Estonia
one. A number of GWP ‘friends’, former com- Secretary
mitte members etc, were asked to nominate Ismael Serageldin / former GWP Chair GWP CEE Stakeholder meeting in Moldova
three people they thought had been key in
October 26-27, 2006
GWP’s development. The nominations resulted In addition, the GWP Patrons, HRH the Prince
in the list of twelve individuals, listed below to- of Orange and Prof. Kader Asmal, were pre- Chisinau, Moldova
gether with their connection to GWP. sented the award in gratitude of their contri-
butions to GWP. Also Crown Princess Victoria
GWP CEE Regional Council Meeting
Maureen Ballestero / former Chair of GWP of Sweden was presented the glass droplet in
Central America appreciation of her participation in the anni- October 28-29, 2006
John Briscoe / former World Bank donor versary celebration. Chisinau, Moldova
CREDIT: GWP
National IWRM Dialogue in Hungary
November 13, 2006
Budapest, Hungary
National IWRM Dialogue in Poland
November 14, 2006
Warsaw, Poland
National IWRM Dialogue in Bulgaria
November 23-25, 2006
Arbanasi, Bulgaria
National IWRM Dialogue in Lithuania
November 28, 2006
Vilnius, Lithuania
National IWRM Dialogue in Ukraine
December 4, 2006
Janusz Kindler, GWP CEE Senior Advisor
Kiev, Ukraine
2. Serbian farmers Participate in United Nations Pilot
Project for Reducing Danube pollution
CREDIT: S. MILOSEVIC
FARMERS IN RURAL VOJVODINA, SERBIA, WERE
SUCCESSFULLY TRAINED BY THE UNITED NA-
TIONS TO REDUCE POLLUTION IN DEMONSTRA-
TION PROJECTS AIMED AT HELPING FARMERS
IN SEVEN DANUBE RIVER BASIN COUNTRIES.
All eight demonstration farms have livestock
production including pigs, cows and chickens,
and crop production such as maize, sunflower
and barley. Bad farming practices are a main
source of nutrient and toxic pollution seeping
into local water bodies that lead to the Dan-
ube and Black Sea. Bad practices include the Training about control field sprayer
poor storage of manure and slurry (liquids with
high solid concentrations) from livestock, ma- applying best agricultural practices (BAPs). To pesticides, more cost-effective farming practic-
nure and slurry distribution onto farm fields, date, project successes include the training of es and the improved quality of their products.
the poor protection of chemical storage facili- farmers and farming advisory services in ferti- Project partner organizations in each of the seven
ties and faulty application of pesticides. lizer planning, and designing and constructing countries have developed national plans for dis-
manure storage and slurry tanks. seminating results and transferring know-how
The Vojvodina farms are representative of farm- from the Vojvodina farms to farmers, farming
ing practices in Serbia and six other Danube The project is trying to raise finances from the advisory services and local authorities through
countries participating in the project where ag- state and private sectors, to construct manure trainings, publications and media relations.
riculture is both a key economic sector and pol- stores and slurry tanks and purchase equipment. “More such projects are needed to increase the
lution source. The other countries are Bulgaria, A campaign has informed local and national Ser- understanding, and support the application, of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Ro- bian media at seminars and demonstration sites. BAPs in the Danube countries,” said Slobodan
mania and Ukraine. Recently, farmers and journalists were flown to Milosevic, Project Team Leader.
an international farming fair in Denmark to learn
To help reduce pollution, the project, financed by about the latest advances in BAPs. Further information: Paul Csagoly, Communi-
the United Nations Development Programme– cations Specialist, UNDP-GEF DRP, tel: +43 1
Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) Dan- Besides providing environmental advantages, 26060 4722, mobile: +43 1 664 561 2192,
ube Regional Project (DRP) and implemented by farmers also benefit economically from BAPs e-mail: paul.csagoly@unvienna.org, website:
Danish company Carl Bro, is training farmers in through reduced expenditures on fertilizers and www.undp-drp.org
CREDIT: S. MILOSEVIC
CREDIT: S. MILOSEVIC
Calf from pilot farm Farmer ready for handling agrochemicals
2
3. LIFE brings life to the Sur
CREDIT: APOP
IN THE LOCAL LANGUAGE, SUR STANDS FOR to catch water in the
WETLAND. spring time. For the
The Sur wetland is located a mere 6 kilometers Sur, spring floodwa-
from Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. To- ter is critical to the
day’s surface was formed in the Late Tertiary Pe- life of its ecosystems
riod, when neighboring hills were lifted up and for the rest of a year.
the Sur area was lowered. Sea and lake sedi- Unfortunately, the gates did not work.
ments and later, the Danube River, filled the low-
land. During end of the Ice Age, the Sur dropped Since 1952, scientists have tried to declare the
further down and created a shallow basin which Sur wetland as a natural protection reservation
attracted creeks from the surrounding hills. Sup- due to its rich biodiversity. With a total area of
plied with plenty of water, a swamp forest grew 1100 hectares, the reserve boasts of the largest
on the organic mud and peat in the lowest part. natural alder swamp forest in Central Europe. It
is also home to a variety of rare and endangered
In the 17th century, swamps were a natural de- plants and animals. The importance of the Sur
fense of the town of Svaty Jur against Turkish was underlined by the fact that it was the first
invaders. For local people, the wetland supplied wetland in Slovakia declared as an internation-
fresh fish, birds and wild animals. The situation ally important wetland under the Ramsar Con- Rare Iris sibirica in Sur
deteriorated in the “industrialization” era which vention in 1990 (Ramsar site No 498).
LIFE project
CREDIT: APOP
In 2003, the Asso-
ciation of Industry
and Nature Conser-
vation (APOP) launched a new initiative to direct
more water into the Sur. APOP and its partners
– the Water Management Enterprise, Protected
Region (CHKO) Male Karpaty, the Slovak Land
Fund and the municipality of Svaty Jur – have
prepared a project for LIFE. First introduced in
1992, LIFE is an EU financial instrument for the
environment and one of the spearheads of the
European Union’s environmental policy. It co-
finances projects in three areas – LIFE Nature,
LIFE Environment and LIFE Third Countries.
Later in 2003, the proposal was granted 400,000
EUR from LIFE, out of which the contribution of
the project team was 100,000 EUR. The project
aims to improve wetland ecosystems in the Sur
Protected Grass Frog Rana temporaria in Sur Nature Reserve through improved water condi-
called for more agricultural land. Whenever pos- Since achieving the status of a protected re- tions. It will bring more water for the swamp
sible, wetlands have been drained and turned serve, the desiccation of the Sur wetland has wood forest, plants and animals whose life is
into fields. the Sur also suffered as surrounding continued, despite the efforts of scientists, totally dependent on this precious resource.
creeks were trapped into the man made Sur ca- students, volunteers and NGOs. The major
nal which diverted water from the wetland. De- problem is the lack of dialogue among users The project has two main parts. The technical
spite high expectations, the canal did not help of neighboring land – farmers, municipalities, part includes the reconstruction and construc-
to grow more crops, however, it increased the hunters, gardeners and others. The wetland tion of pipes and streams, which bring water
fire risk and dried up the Sur. lies in the vicinity of the capital which is rap- to the Sur. The second part is educational and
idly sprawling into the suburban residential seeks to create a trail to help local people and
Between 1942 and 1999, the area of flooded areas. Academia Istropolitana Nova, the Svaty tourists to become familiar with the reserve. The
meadows dropped from 696 hectares to virtual- Jur based educational institute, prepared a project will end in 2007; however, more water
ly nothing. The bogs and marches started to dis- communication strategy to solve this prob- will continue to flow into the reserve later on.
appear and a number of water plant species de- lem. The results of the project were success- Even the results will be visible in the long run;
clined. Not surprisingly, the groundwater level fully published in the GWP Tool Box (www. the project manager says that the project came
decreased, especially during dry years. The Sur gwptoolbox.org), as case study No 119. How- in the nick of time
has also suffered from fires. In order to help the ever, they have not been used in managing the Danka J. Thalmeinerova
wetland, several sluice gates were constructed wetland on the ground. APOP, Focal Point of the GWP Tool Box
3
4. DANUBE DAY 2006: Space for Life
CREDIT: RUZICA JACIMOVIC
DANUBE DAY 2006 WAS A MASSIVE EVENT Events ranged from public festivals in major
WITH A MASSIVE IMPACT. REACHING AUDIENC- capitals to groups of children gathered on the
ES OF TEN OF THOUSANDS, IT ACHIEVED MORE banks of tiny tributaries in remote rural are-
THAN EVER BEFORE. THE SUCCESSES OF THE as. As ICPDR Presidents, the spotlight was on
THIRD BASIN-WIDE FESTIVAL ARE NUMEROUS: Moldova to host their biggest and best celebra-
IT WAS CELEBRATED ON A HUGE SCALE; IT IN- tions yet - they achieved this and more. Towns
SPIRED CHANGE AND IT MADE A REAL DIFFER- along the Prut held events attended by Environ- Encouraging children to think and act for their rivers: Danube
ENCE TO THE FUTURE OF THE RIVERS AND THE ment Ministers, senior international communi- Day 2006 in Belgrade
PEOPLE WHO RELY ON THEM. ty and civil society officials and crowds of local ple to look beyond boundaries and realise that
people in a grand Danube Week. their actions impact on others. Rivers mark-
ing the dividing line between nations became
Other national highlights included Romania’s a common bond. The Austrian-Slovak-Hungar-
7-day celebration; key conference on inter- ian Danube is the link for an annual endeav-
national cooperation and the Danube Walk our: the Three Nations bicycle tour. This year,
- a day of merriment, awareness raising and Danubians from 6 countries travelled one step,
dancing involving Ministers, officials, NGOs, and many pedals, further by cycling from Vi-
ICPDR and Galati residents. Hungary’s events enna to Györ. Further south, on the Hungari-
took place in both Danube and Tisza Basins an-Serbian-Croatian stretch, the river was the
(incl. Baja, Báta, Györ, Budapest and Eszter- uniting force for intrepid adventurers in the
Celebration fills the Basin gom). Serbia produced a tremendous affair Baja-Apatin canoe tour. On the Moldovan-Ro-
Celebrations stretched across the basin on 29th with 70 bodies from 20 towns uniting Danubi- manian border, the cutting of a red ribbon on
June 2006. Tens of 1000s of people were in- ans. Visitors to Belgrade’s flagship event could the banks of the Prut by the countries’ Envi-
volved in organising or attending 130 events in visit 12 towns in one, enjoying the traditions, ronment Ministers symbolically suspended the
13 countries. Ministerial events; conferences; food and history of each. border for the day.
awareness raising actions; river clean-ups and
youth fests made a day of festivity and achieve- Inspiring change across the region Slovak rivers provided the impetus for children
ment. Beating last year’s record, 410 govern- Danube Day inspires people to work together to send Danube Greetings: messages of inter-
ment and civil society bodies worked together for their environment. Cross-border activities national goodwill to the Basin, organised by
for Danube Day. promoted Danube solidarity, encouraging peo- GWP. In addition, the GWP Greet the Danube
CREDIT: CCHBC/FALLANDER
We proudly present: The Danube Box (Josef Pröll, Minster of Water, Austria; Philip Weller, Executive Secretary, ICPDR; Monika Polster, Coca-Cola Austria, Ulrike Gehmacher, Coca-Cola
4 HBC and Uli Sima, Environment Councillor, Vienna
5. CREDIT: CCHBC/FALLANDER
Greeting the
Danube
by “Sounding
the Horns”
Again on Danube Day, the sailors of boats
sailing on the Danube marked that special
day at 11 a.m. by sounding their horns (one
short sound and one long sound, three times
one after the other with pauses).
CREDIT: MIKLOS KERESZTES
Moldovan Environment Minister and ICPDR President 2006, Constantin Mihailescu, gets involved in water quality monitoring
during Danube Day festivities on the River Prut
ship blast saw workers sound their ships’ horns Danube wildlife, particularly fish, was this
in tribute to the route-way that provides their year’s theme. Ukraine river adventures instilled Greeting the Danube
livelihoods. Boats from a different era unit- a sense of wonder as youngsters searched for This is not only a “greeting” to the “old river”
ed 3000 Austrians, Slovenes, Hungarians and elusive sturgeon. Austria’s day focussed on but also an expression of respect for the Dan-
Croats on the Mura when 20 traditional wood- capturing young imaginations with Lobau sa- ube that enables the most environmentally
en craft travelled from Cmurek, Austria to No- faris. Pupils were transported from the Vienna friendly transport possibility – shipping. It is
vakovec, Croatia. While American Mimi Hugh- cityscape to an almost untouched natural ha- also a way of drawing attention to the natu-
es had only her own strength and stamina to ven that evoked a sense of wilderness in even ral treasures that the Danube possesses.
the most streetwise. Hungary’s MusicFlow DJ
CREDIT: ATTILA MOROCZ
fest raised the Danube’s ‘street cred,’ popular-
ising the Danube message to an age-band of- tween the ICPDR, Coca-Cola HBC and The
ten ignored in campaigns. In Germany, pupils Coca-Cola Company. This resulted in nation-
were captivated by water games and in Slova- al media campaigns and support for events.
kia, 700 youngsters from Children’s Homes en- The ICPDR-Coca-Cola Danube Box, an ed-
joyed a packed fun day. ucation kit developed for teachers by ex-
pert educators has been launched in Vienna.
The Danube Box is now available for 18,000
Practical actions that make teachers in Austria and the English version
a real difference is under finalisation. With joint efforts the
Danube Day achieves positive change. Instant Danube Box will soon inspire other teachers
The Mayor of Baja demonstrates his Danube solidarity by
taking part in the Waters Unite “Baja (Hungary) – Bezdan results were gained by mobilising people for all over the Danube Basin and bring the kids
(Serbia)” canoe tour practical tasks (clean-ups on the Danube, Prut closer to the rivers.
get through a gruelling 2850km Danube swim; and Delta) and use of new Belgrade rubbish
a personal mission of social and environmen- collection boats. Long term success is gained The ICPDR would like to thank everyone in-
tal stewardship. by providing the impetus for officials and lo- volved in the world’s largest river festival. 12
cals to improve river management and policy. years of international cooperation has resulted
Inspiring the next generation of Danube users Events were the catalyst for: improving inte- in cleaner, safer rivers. The Danube Day part-
to act for their rivers is a cornerstone of Danube gration of environmental protection into de- ners have made a huge contribution to ensur-
Day. This year involved more children then ever velopment plans; progress on flood prevention ing these improvements continue.
before. The DEF Danube Art Master extravagan- and water quality plans in Bulgaria and Bosnia
za, which annually invites every child in the Ba- & Herzegovina; improved monitoring; and list- Suzie Holt lives in Devon, UK and is a freelance
sin to create a piece of art, elicited a huge re- ing of tipping sites. environmental communications consultant. She
sponse. In just 4 of the participating countries, has been involved in Danube Day over the last
over 1300 students entered 1000 artworks in- Spreading the word three years.
cluding 550 Czech students from the Morava Communication campaigns made the 2006
region alone. National winners will travel to Vi- Danube Day by far the most successful to- Interesting websites.
enna for a two day trip in December, courtesy of date. A large part of this was due to the for- www.icpdr.org
Coca-Cola and the ICPDR. mation of the Green Danube Partnership be- www.danubeday.org
5
6. Tool Box Seminar limited number of spe-
CREDIT: DANKA THALMEINEROVA
cialized programs deal-
ing with water resources
management. According
the participants, none of
the educational programs
has focused exclusive-
ly on IWRM. Some pro-
grams are of a short-term
nature, co-funded by EU
education schemes such
as Leonardo and Socrates.
However, the programs
often close down when
the external support dries
out. This could be solved
by embedding IWRM in
the mainstream curricu-
la, which is unfortunately
rarely used due to the lack
of a systematic approach,
knowledge, expertise, and
study materials.
The first part of the semi-
nar gave an insight into
the Tool Box philoso-
phy. The main idea was to
show that Tool Box case
studies can be used for
assignments related to
water management, de-
Participants of the Tool Box seminar in Svaty Jur, Slovakia velopment and use. Tool
Box offers real life cases
ON SEPTEMBER 8-9, 2006, ACADEMIA ISTRO- in universities and institutes of higher ed- which can be analysed and compared, using the
POLITANA NOVA HOSTED AN INTERNATIONAL ucation. Since its launch in 2001, the Tool tool system.
IWRM TOOL BOX SEMINAR, SPECIALLY DE- Box has been sharing experience in getting
SIGNED FOR ACADEMIC FELLOWS, IN SVATY IWRM principles into work. It also provides In the second part, the participants presented their
JUR, SLOVAKIA. tools for designing national integrated wa- experience with using IWRM in their respective
ter management plans. universities. They discussed the potential of edu-
cational institutions with respect to the adoption
To respond to new challenges, a Tool Box Task of new multidisciplinary knowledge, opportunities
Force, in cooperation with the Academia Istro- for the training of teachers and the role of uni-
politana Nova and GWP CEE Regional Secretari- versities in providing assistance to governments in
at, organized a seminar which brought together complying with EU water legislation.
junior teachers from 8 CEE countries. The main
According to the recent survey, IWRM princi- objective of the seminar was to introduce the During the final part, the participants had direct
ples, despite their acceptance at the policy lev- Tool Box as a source of knowledge on IWRM in on-line access to the Tool Box web page and as-
el, are not well used in higher education. One university education. University teachers, deal- sessed the possibly of using it in real education.
of the main reasons is that the design of wa- ing with water and/or environmental issues Here are some of their comments:
ter policy is not linked to the education system, were the primary target group. In total, 15 par- the tools are structured in such way that it
school curricula are not flexible enough to ad- ticipants from Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, fits into the broader IWRM picture
dress new knowledge and educational material Romania, Slovakia Slovenia, and Ukraine at- the case studies might be used as a “tem-
can be found in electronic version rather than in tended the seminar. plate” in exercises and group works
academic books. it provides up-to-date information and ap-
Generally, there are many universities that plies a holistic approach
However, the CEE region has an excellent have environmental (water resources) cur- the presented case studies are checked for
opportunity to use the Tool Box, especially ricula in CEE countries. However, there are a content and quality
6
7. the cases can be replicated in projects, and pear in the curricula. In some countries, teach- University libraries are a natural resource for
developed and adjusted to the specific reality ers are invited to support policy making, though Tool Box publications.
of each country. this is not systematic. Teachers need further assistance in training
The participants also noticed that at the mo- on IWRM through Tool Box in seminars, sum-
ment universities do not have any common The seminar was concluded by the following mer schools, etc.
platform for exchanging experience and infor- recommendations: GWP should support the educational com-
mation. Teachers lack methodological support Tool Box deserves broader promotion elec- munity in its efforts to bring IWRM closer to
and have to deal with “ad hoc” topics which ap- tronically and in print. the young generation.
Integrated River Basin Management in Slovenia
SLOVENIA RIVERS FEED TWO MAJOR BASINS –THE To date, experts have compiled information on get the public and interested organisations on
DANUBE RIVER AND THE ADRIATIC SEA BASINS the quality, quantity and dynamic status of the board, to inform and consult them on a timely
water regime, ecological conditions and wa- basis regarding the preparation of plans.
In 2000, Slovenia started work on the interna- ter use, as well as activities influencing waters.
tional Danube River Basin Management Plan in They have prepared scenarios to ensure enough Given the above, it may be concluded that the
cooperation with the International Commission water for animals and plants without compro- implementation of the EU Water Framework Di-
for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR). mising the developmental needs of humans. rective represents a major challenge for Slovenia,
as it requires considerable interdisciplinary work,
A year later, Slovenia chose eco-regions and Stakeholders, the interested public and NGOs took innovation and, in particular, the readiness of ex-
watercourse types and set the number of basins an active part in the development of proposals perts, administrative officers, authorities, non-
and sub-basins, in line with the Water Frame- and guidelines for water management and action governmental organizations and individuals to
work Directive (WFD). These are the keystones programmes. These documents represent an ex- engage in dialogue and demonstrate tolerance.
for the preparation of the so-called river ba- pert basis for the decision making process at local,
sin management plans. The officials very soon regional and national levels. In addition, the docu- However, only the implementation of these
found out that there was not much time left, if ments define the tasks and responsibilities for in- plans will bring about the expected results and
they wanted to comply with WFD deadlines. tegrated and sustainable water management. fulfil set goals. Therefore, a national regula-
tion on integrated water management should
As a result, Slovenia has begun preparation of The objectives of the plans are to: be adopted in order to provide the necessary
river basin and sub-basin management plans protect the hydrological, hydro morphologi- guidelines. In Slovenia, the responsibility for
for larger watercourses, such as the Kokra, cal and ecological potential of waters; overall management and financing of the inte-
Dragonja, Drava, Idrijca, Kolpa, Kamniška Bistri- keep up with environmental standards, pol- grated plans shall be taken over by governmen-
ca and Sava rivers. This included a pilot experi- lution limits and international conventions on tal bodies, e.g. development agencies.
ment involving the Krka River.
In this context, it was necessary to carry out
field work which would provide up to date in-
formation for the river basin management
plan. Interdisciplinary expert teams prepared
the plans which ensured that they were inte-
grated across sectors, such as water use, agri-
culture and environmental protection. In the
case of trans-boundary rivers and their tribu-
taries, the preparatory work was done in co-
operation with authorities and specialists in
neighbouring countries.
Integrated water management plans
Integrated water management plans are key-
stones for future water management, as they
take into account the hydrological, hydro-
morphological, ecological, as well as technical
and nature protection features of an area. The
plans also consider the developmental needs
and development potential of the area. How- the protection of the environment and nature; Liviana Borko, M.Sc., Employee of Ministry of the
ever, it is very important to ensure appropri- ensure and promote rational use of water re- Environment and Spatial Planning, Inspectorate of
ate administrative arrangements for the river sources, in particular in industry through the the Republic of Slovenia for the Environment and
basin in question, including the establishment introduction of closed circuit cooling water in- Spatial Planning, e-mail: liviana.borko@gov.si.
of competent administration and inspections. stead of flow-through systems;
7
8. New IWRM forum for the Cris River in Hungary
THE CRIS RIVER BASIN SPREADS ACROSS THE SOUTH-EASTERN PART OF The main goal of the forum is to strengthen the spirit and activity of the
THE GREAT HUNGARIAN PLAIN. Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Hungarian water
management. It also supports the implementation of the European WFD
The Cris River Basin is a semi-dry area; however, it is often hit by floods. (Water Framework Directive). According to the forum, the process of river
As a result, water management is high on the local agenda. Many barrag- basin management planning should not only rely on ecological aspects
es used for navigation and better water use can be found on the Cris Riv- but on the IWRM as a whole. This is important because attention has to
er. The barrage was built one hundred years ago in Bokeny, not far from be drawn not only to the protection of the environment but also to the
the city of Csongrad. It was the first sluice in Central Europe that had a economy and social welfare.
ferro-concrete structure. The 100-year anniversary of the unique barrage
was celebrated at a scientific memorial meeting. Co-operation is also necessary because in Hungary, as in all former so-
cialist countries, changes are ongoing. During the transformation proc-
On the occasion of this meeting, five water NGOs decided to set up a collabo- ess, it is crucial that water-related decisions be based on expert opinion.
ration forum to take common action on water-related issues. The forum, ini- The new forum brings together the intellectual capacity that will support
tiated by the GWP Hungary Foundation, consists of the Hungarian Hydrolog- more integrated approaches to water management.
ical Society, the Hungarian Water Utility Association, the Hungarian Chamber Gyula REICH
of Engineers, the National Association of Water Management Companies and President of the Board of Trustees
the GWP Hungary Foundation. GWP Hungary Foundation
CREDIT: GWP HUNGARY
IWRM forum signatories
Volume 6, Issue No. 2/2006, November 2006
Water Talk is the official newsletter of Global Water Partnership Central and Easter Europe (GWP CEE)
published twice a year. Water Talk assists GWP CEE to promote principles of Integrated Water Resourc-
es Management (IWRM) in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. The views and opinions of au-
thors expressed in this issue Water Talk do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of GWP CEE.
Publisher: GWP CEE - Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe, gwpcee@shmu.sk,
Editor: Richard Müller, Language Proofreading: Euro VKM, Ltd, Layout and Printing: TYPOCON, Ltd.
Registration No: 3244/2004
ISSN: 1336-5525
GWP CEE – Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe, c/o Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, Jeseniova 17, 833 15 Bratislava, Slovakia,
phone: +421 2 5941 5294, fax: +421 2 5941 5273, e-mail: gwpcee@shmu.sk, http://www.gwpceeforum.org
8