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The first Capacity Building Workshop/ Roundtable within the framework of GEF IW:LEARN Activity D2 took place in Berlin, 5 – 7 December, with the support of the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and in cooperation with GEF IWLEARN, World Bank and GWP-Med.
The theme of the Workshop was “Protection and Sustainable Use of Trans-boundary Waters in Southeastern Europe”.
The international Roundtable - starting with a review of existing cooperation mechanisms in the region and beyond - aimed to stimulate political will for broader cooperation in transboundary water catchment areas and for creation of regional networks among peers concerned with water basin management in the region. This international Roundtable also aimed to deliver strong future oriented messages and encourage concrete action for the further implementation of the Agenda 21 and JPOI (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation).
To achieve these goals, the roundtable addressed the following major thematic blocks:
- Regional initiatives to promote transboundary water management cooperation,
- Involvement of local communities and stakeholders,
- Ways of mobilizing financial resources from all sources for action.
A major horizontal theme of the workshop was sustainable water and wastewater utilities to protect water quality in transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers.
Participants were representatives from governments with responsibilities in water management as well as in infrastructure investment planning and financing, stakeholder representatives from regional authorities as well as representatives from various international organizations and financial institutions active in the region.
The international Roundtable marks the first step of Phase II of the Petersberg Process, which is a joint initiative of the German Government and the World Bank, launched in 1998 to facilitate an open debate at the international as well as regional level on water as a catalyst for transboundary cooperation. The series of German government conferences and engagement on the topic of transboundary water management led to Phase II, with a focus on implementation of concrete action at the regional level. The engagement in South-Eastern Europe is closely linked to the Athens Declaration Process and is organized in cooperation with GWP-Med, GEF IW:LEARN and the Mediterranean Component of EU-Water Initiative.
• “Financial aspects of water supply and sanitation in transboundary waters in South-Eastern Europe”.
• Concept paper on Transboundary Water Management in Southeastern Europe. Petersberg Process – Phase II and the Athens Declaration Process
Additional background material is available at the Library.
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5th December – Monday
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14:00 Welcome Address
Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for the Environment,
Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Ms. Astrid Klug)
14:20 Introductory Remarks
Germany / Federal Ministry for the Environment (Mr. Fritz Holzwarth)
World Bank (Mr. Stephen Lintner)
GEF (Mr. Alfred Duda)
Greece / Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Charalambos Christopoulos)
14:40 Discussion
First Thematic Block
Regional Initiatives to promote Trans-boundary Water Management Co-operation
Moderator (Mr. Alfred Duda) and Co-Moderator (Ms. Alma Bako)
15:00 Progress in the Sava River Basin
(Mr. Mitja Bricelj)
15:20 Cross Border Water Management in the Mesta / Nestos River Basin
(Mr. Nikolai Kouyumdzhiev)
15:40 Discussion
16:00 Coffee Break
16:20 Spreading of the Lake Orhid Project experience – Transfer from Lake to
River Basin Management
(Mr. Dejan Panovski)
16:40 Neretva and Trebišnjica River Basin Management Project
(Mr. Miroslav Steinbauer)
17:00 Cooperation in trans-boundary Water Management - Danube Experience
(Mr. Peter Whalley)
The Danube River and Black Sea GEF Financed Investment Program
(Mr. Manuel Mariño)
17:20 Discussion and Summary of the first day
Evening - Reception
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6th December - Tuesday
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9:00 Technical Assistance for trans-boundary Water Management
(Ms. Frauke Neumann-Silkow)
9:20 Capacity Building to trans-boundary Water Management (+IWRM)
(Mr. Thomas Petermann)
9:40 Parallel Working Sessions
1.a EU-requirements
(Mr. Helmut Bloech and Ms. Valentina Mileusnic)
Presentations: Introduction
Results
1.b Aquifer/Groundwater Management
(Ms. Alice Aureli and Mr. Ronald Hoffer)
Presentations: Introduction
Results
10:50 Coffee Break
11:10 Parallel Working Sessions on
2.a Multipurpose investments: hydropower and flood management
(Mr. Alessandro Palmieri and Mr. Volker Mohaupt)
Presentations: Introduction
Mr. Alessandro Palmieri
Mr. Volker Mohaupt
Results
2.b Cooperation modes & benefits sharing
(Mr. Bo Libert and Ms. Lubka Vassileva Katchakova)
Presentations: Introduction
Results
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Plenary
Presentation and Discussion of the results of the working sessions
Second Thematic Block
Involvement of Local Communities and Stakeholders
Moderator (Mr. Michael Scoullos) and Co-Moderator (Mr. Philip Weller)
15:00 Presentation of selected Case Studies
- Working together for a Better Life Beyond the Divide: Civic networking for trans-boundary
and multi-ethnic Dialogue for Sustainable Development in the Lake Ohrid Watershed
(Mr. Oliver Avramoski)
- The Prespa Park: Trans-boundary Co-operation for Conservation, Sustainable Development and Peace
(Ms. Lindita Shakiri Atanasova)
- Involvement of Local Communities in the Water Management of Prespa
(Mr. George Parisopoulos)
- Establishing participative Structures for the Management of transboundary Wetlands
in the context of the Ramsar Convention - MedWet and the case of the Neretva Delta
(Mr. Spyros Kouvelis)
- Challenges of Stakeholder Involvement in the Management of the Danube Basin
(Ms. Monika Kovacova)
supplementary comments by World Bank, GEF, KfW and others
16:00 Coffee Break
16:20 Support to NGOs
(Mr. Janos Zlinszky)
16:40 Discussion and Summary of 2nd Block
17:15 Special Presentation
Alternative Concepts for Sanitation
(Mr. Anton Peter-Fröhlich)
Evening - Dinner
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7th December - Wednesday
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Third Thematic Block
Mobilising Financial Resources for Action
Moderator (Mr. Manfred Konukiewitz) and Co-Moderator (Mr. Nikola Marjanovic)
9:00 Financing Mechanisms for Water Supply and Waste Water Treatment – an Overview
(Mr. Stefan Speck)
Supplementary Statements by World Bank ( )(Mr. Manuel Marino), KfW, GEF
Questions and answers
9:20 Developing Water Supply and Waste Water Treatment Infrastructure from a local Perspective
– Experiences from Eastern Germany
(Mr. Carl Haffke)
9:40 Professional Project Preparation and Approaches for Medium-Sized Municipalities in South-Eastern Europe
(Ms. Vibeke Reckhard)
10:00 Stabilization & Association Process: the EU Policy for South East Europe
(Mr. Andrew Murphy)
10:20 IW:LEARN – The GEF International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network
(Ms. Janot Mendler de Suarez)
10:40 Discussion
11:00 Coffee Break
11:15 Roundtable on Future Steps
(Mr. Fritz Holzwarth and Mr. Stephen Lintner)
12:30 Conclusive Remarks
Germany / Federal Ministry for the Environment (Mr. Fritz Holzwarth)
Greece / Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Charalambos Christopoulos)
GEF (Mr. Alfred Duda)
World Bank (Mr. Stephen Lintner)
Workshop Report / Conclusions
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Protection and Sustainable Use of Transboundary Waters