Upcoming events

Towards new methods to manage nitrate pollution within the Water Framework Directive

2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

The BRGM and the ISONITRATE consortium are pleased to invite you to their final international workshop.

Nitrate pollution is expected to be one of the main reasons for water bodies not to reach the good status by 2015 and so the workshop aims at :

addressing a scientific state of the art dedicated to classical and most innovative approaches of nitrate monitoring;
presenting and discussing alternative methods to support water stakeholders in managing nitrate pollution.

Attendance at the workshop is free and all details will be available soon on the project website http://isonitrate.brgm.fr/

As the number of participants is limited, we recommend that you return your registration form to conf_isonitrate@oieau.fr quickly.

For more information on the project, please contact : David Widory (d.widory@brgm.fr), Emmanuelle Petelet (e.petelet@brgm.fr)

For more information on the workshop, please contact : conf_isonitrate@oieau.fr

Water, Engagement for our Future - AER 14th Summer Schools 2009

2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

The 14th Summer School of the AER will take place in august 2009 in Valencia, Spain. By bringing together decision makers, officials and young people, the Summer School intends to provide the tools to be able to cope with the challenges of water management.

In a scenario of climate change, the sound management of the water is a key issue to maintain the biodiversity, the human health and the economic and social development. The “blue” challenge is of paramount importance. The entire World is going through a water crisis, safe access to water for all is one of the Millenium Goals, and water savings can be improved by more than 40% in Europe. That is why it becomes necessary to join efforts and ideas, share experiences and develop new instruments to raise awareness, contribute to create a water saving culture in Europe, define strategies, learn from each other and work with third countries.

The Summer School is oriented to regional decision-makers, elected politicians and experts from the different regional and local administrations who are interested in developing solutions for the water issues. Simultaneously, the Youth Summer School will bring young people from all Europe to work together in this issue, to promote sharing of experiences, expressing their opinion and better awareness to act as “water ambassadors” when back in their home regions.

Deadline for registrations : 20 July 2009

The aim of the Summer Schools is to:

Raise awareness concerning the developments affecting water ressources, their availability and their management
Provide regional administrations with the opportunity to gather best practice in this field from their European counterparts and to develop innovative approaches
Encourage the emergence of a "water saving culture" by involving in particular young people as early as possible and committing them as "water ambassadors"
Create a "Water Award"
Elaborate a "European regional Charter for Water

The Summer Schools are targeted at:

Regional politicians, officers and experts in charge of water and environment, water management or planning and communication in relation to water
Young people from regional youth cabinets, parliaments and political parties

Official invitation

Draft Programme as at 19/06/09

Practical Information

Tourist information brochure (1,5 Mo)

Registration

In order to register, an electronic registration form is available.

Please
- download the document below,
- fill it in and, once you have finished,
- click on the "Imprimir formulario" button in order to get a hard copy of the information you have provided,
- click on the "Enviar por correo electrónico" button in order to send your information. Please note that you cannot save the form with the information you have filled in.

Registration form

Registrations made after the 20th July 2009 (new deadline) will be charged with an extra 30, - € fee (no matter which category). Please be aware that the bank charges are excluded from the registration fee. They have to be paid by the region.

Turkish French bilateral cooperation for environment: Water Governance Workshop - Situations in France and Turkey

2009-06-29T00:00:00Z

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Union of Turkish Municipalities (TBB) are organizing together a workshop in Ankara on 7 and 8 of July 2009 about water management at the national, basin and city levels, within the framework of the bilateral cooperation between Turkey and France.

There will be lecturers from both sides, Turkey and France. The programme concerns:
-    the organisation of responsibilities for water management,
-   the various ways to modernise and improve it,
-   the exchange of experience and best practices,
-   the use of the existing data for mutual benefits,
-   the needs and means for technical training of the operators.

This Workshop will provide:
- a vision for the future as Turkey is expected to adapt the EU Water Framework Directive,
- a clear assessment of the needs for training at the local levels,
- ideas for developing the exchange of experiences and data among all persons and institutions involved, as a continuation of efforts initiated since 2006 by TBB’ environmental platform.

The participants are expected from the provincial directorates, as well as from the Municipalities (above 100000 inhabitants) and their SKIs.

la-conference-de-lancement-du-programme-enpiievp

2009-06-29T00:00:00Z

Research on Sustainable Development Indicators: Taking Stock of Results and Identification of Research Needs + Working group meeting on Sustainable Development Indicators

2009-06-23T00:00:00Z

On 30th September 2009, the Sustainable Development Unit of the Research DG's Directorate for Environment and EUROSTAT are organising a conference on "Research on Sustainable Development Indicators: Taking Stock of Results and Identification of Research Needs"

The Conference will take place in Luxembourg, back-to-back with the next Working group on Sustainable Development Indicators (October 1-2), within EUROSTAT premises in Luxemburg.

The Conference will reflect on the research carried out so far on Sustainable Development Indicators and will also prompt the discussion on the remaining research gaps. A review of FP6 projects dealing with indicators will be discussed, together with the final results of two FP6 projects, INDI-LINK and DECOIN Additionally, a few external speakers from other key players in this area will also contribute to the final panel discussion.

Download the draft programme of the conference 11 kB

Visit the pages related to sustainable development indicators on the Research DG's "Sustainable Development" and Eurostat websites.

10emes-rencontres-daffaires-euro-mediterraneennes

2009-06-22T00:00:00Z

« EURO-INBO 2009 » - Invitation - Conference of the European River Basin District Authorities - STOCKHOLM (SWEDEN) - 19, 20 & 21 AUGUST 2009

2009-06-16T00:00:00Z

INTERNATIONAL NETWORK OF BASIN ORGANISATIONS

« EUROPE-INBO 2009 »

„The Water Framework Directive - Sharing experiences and meeting future challenges"

Conference of the

European River Basin District Authorities

organised by the Swedish River Basin District Authorities and INBO

STOCKHOLM (SWEDEN) - 19, 20 & 21 AUGUST 2009

Paris, on 9 June 2009

Dear Madam, Dear Sir, Dear Friends,

I inform you that the next «EUROPE-INBO 2009» international conference, organised by the «Group of European Basin Organisations for the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive - WFD», will take place this year within the World Water Week in Stockholm, at the invitation of the Swedish River Basin District Authorities:

STOCKHOLM - SWEDEN
on 19, 20 and 21 August 2009
Stockholm International Fairs

This conference is an official meeting of the Swedish Presidency of the European Union which opens on next 1^stJuly.

The programme will proceed over three days:

Wednesday 19 August:

14:00-17:30: Seminar on the control of emissions of hazardous substances (presentation of European case studies based on Management Plans),

17.45-18.45: Side event: «Recommendations from the GWP/INBO handbook on Integrated Water Resources Management in basins» (responsibilities of District Authorities, financing, etc.)

The seminar and side event of 19 August are open to all the participants of the World Water Week.

Thursday 20 and Friday 21 August:

These two days are specifically dedicated to the District Authorities in charge of implementing the Water Framework Directive in river basins: INBO objective is to allow the European Basin Organisations to meet regularly, in an informal manner, to share their practical experience.

In 2009, the District Authorities have to present their first Basin Management Plans and Programmes of Measures. The conference objective is thus to organise the sharing of experience on this challenge. A large part of the programme is devoted to group discussions and round tables in order to facilitate exchanges.

Three workshops are organised:

1. Management Plans - focus on public participation and transboundary challenges

2. Climate Change - challenges to water management

3. Programmes of Measures - economic aspects

The conference will end on Friday 21 August afternoon by a meeting of the Bureaus of INBO European Regional Networks (EUROPE-INBO, CEENBO and MENBO).

I hope that you will be able to participate in this conference and will take this opportunity to attend the entire World Water Week in Stockholm.

Participation in this conference on the European Water Framework Directive is free of charge.

As a participant in the «WFD» conference, you can benefit from a 25% discount on the registration fee for the World Water Week.

The deadline for registration to the WFD conference is 30 June 2009. Registration can be made on the web site:

http://www.vattenmyndigheterna.se/vattenmyndigheten/wfd_conf/

on which it is also possible to book an hotel, on the other hand the other travel arrangements are to be made separately by each participant.

If you wish to participate in the World Water Week, registration is made on the website: http://www.worldwaterweek.org/. You will have to specify that you participate in the WFD conference to benefit from the 25% discount, valid until 30 June (write "WFD Competent Authorities" in the box "Other information - Special remarks regarding my registration").

For good organisation, I thank you in advance for kindly returning, at your earliest convenience, the enclosed registration form to INBO Secretariat by E-mail at inbo@wanadoo.fr .

The conference will proceed in English.

Any useful information will be continuously available on the website:

http://www.inbo-news.org/euro-riob/stockholm2009_a.htm

The 4th meeting -Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management

2009-05-05T00:00:00Z

The fourth meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management will take place on 8-9 July 2009 in Geneva.

The main objectives of the fourth meeting of the Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management are to review the implementation of the activities in the Convention's workplan for 2007-2009 and to agree on a draft workplan for 2010-2012. The latter workplan will be submitted for discussion and adoption at the fifth meeting of the Parties (Geneva, 10-12 November 2009).

Participants are requested to complete the Registration Form and to transmit it by e-mail to the secretariat (olga.carlos@unece.org) as soon as possible, but not later than 25 June 2009.

Eligible participants from countries with economies in transition may apply for financial support to facilitate their participation in the meeting. Requests for financial support should be submitted to UNECE by e-mail (olga.carlos@unece.org), together with the completed registration form, as soon as possible, but not later than 27 May 2009.

CIRCLE Final Conference

2009-04-24T00:00:00Z

The CIRCLE Final Conference will firstly highlight the results and achievements of the last years and secondly detail the action plan for the following years.

The Conference will be organised in three parts:

History, lessons learnt and achievements of CIRCLE ERA-Net
Outlook on the second generation ERA-Net CIR²CLE
Experiences of other ERA-Nets and linkages to them as well as to FP projects

The CIRCLE conference is free of charge, a remuneration of travel expenses is subject to the CIRCLE refunding rules.

For your registration to the CIRCLE Final and Outlook Conference, please use the registration form.

Looking forward to meeting you in Vienna!

Preannouncement CIRCLE Final and Outlook Conference Vienna 2009 (PDF-Download, 105 K)

3rd World Climate Conference

2009-04-24T00:00:00Z

This conference is focusing on scientific advances in seasonal to inter-annual time-scales, taking into account multi-decadal prediction. It includes the application of climate prediction and information to societal problems, enabling adaptation to climate variability and change in various sectors such as agriculture and food security, forestry, energy, water, health, urban and rural settlements, infrastructure, tourism, wildlife, trade and transport that contribute to sustainable socio-economic development.

Quick links:

> The programme

> The outcomes

> Registration deadline

> Exhibition

> Submission of abstracts

2009 World Water Week: "Responding to Global Changes: Accessing Water for the Common Good; with Special Focus on Transboundary Waters"

2009-03-31T00:00:00Z

Hosted and organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), the World Water Week in Stockholm has been the annual focal point for the planet’s water issues since 1991. The Week provides a unique forum for the exchange of views and experiences between the scientific, business, policy and civic communities. It focuses on new thinking and positive action toward water-related challenges and their impact on the world’s environment, health, economic and poverty reduction agendas. It does so by:

Exploring the interconnected problems of water, society, the environment and economic vitality, building capacity and charting action toward practical solutions.
Fostering pro-active partnerships and alliances between individuals and organisations from different ﬁelds of expertise. Highlighting ground-breaking research, best practices and innovative policy work by stakeholders and experts around the world and from multiple disciplines.
Reviewing the implementation of actions, commitments and decisions in international processes and by different stakeholders in response to the challenges.
By harnessing and linking best practices, scientific understanding and policy and decision-making, the World Water Week in Stockholm moves beyond rhetoric to provide real answers to the world’s water, environment and development problems.

The perspective is global, but the context is attuned to differences and similarities between regions of the world, phases of development, political systems and climatic conditions.

Transboundary Basins:
Water crosses boundaries both within and between nations. A policy for the common good entails approaches that generate positive outcomes for different entities, such as developed and developing countries and diverse social groups. Special attention will be paid to transboundary basins where coordinated policies and co-management are of utmost importance. Recent thinking has lead to considering transboundary waters as regional or global public goods. This approach leads away from narrow property rights issues in the riparian countries and helps focus in a much more positive way on sharing the economic and social benefits of the use of this public good. What formulas can be successful in basins where different political, legal and socio-economic systems co-exist? What efforts are required in financial and other terms? What are the potential and realistic benefits that are of interest for a wider community across boundaries and not only for those who generate them?

The World Water Week Niche 2009-2011: Water – Responding to Global Changes
The 2009 World Water Week and its theme “Accessing Water for the Common Good” comprises the first year under a new niche “Water – Responding to Global Changes”. The niche is identified to guide selection of themes over a three year period to ensure that each year strategically builds upon the previous years’ outcomes and findings. For the period 2009 – 2011, the niche is about the potential and necessary responses in water policy, management and development to address pervasive and increasingly impacting global changes.

It is envisaged that the 2010 World Water Week theme will deal with the consequences of using water on the status of the resource itself. Water quality and quantity are affected by how water and land are used in different sectors with ramifications for society as a whole and downstream users in particular.
The tentative theme for 2011 is to address the choices that have to be made in terms of water harnessing strategies, allocation quotas, water pollution abatement and the trade-offs and synergies that are the outcome of these choices.

la-12eme-conference-interregionale-envirowater

2009-03-11T00:00:00Z

congres-international-eaux-dechets-et

2009-01-07T00:00:00Z