Final Conference of the SPI-Water project: Managing water related information in support

The Conference aims to:

• Bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and water policy implementation
• Presenting the enhanced WISE-RTD Web Portal as a tool for sharing water related research information and operational practices
• Facilitating the transfer of WFD and IWRM experiences

Target group: Operational water managers, researchers, water policy implementation agencies, policy makers, EC project coordinators, consulting & engineering companies, scientific media, ... from Europe and outside Europe

The conference program will allow the attendances to get a clear overview on the actual status on European Water Information Management and related tools in support of WFD and IWRM implementation. To achieve this, a two day agenda is set up with the following items:
General issues related to EC support in the science/policy interfacing process with respect to the implementation of the WFD and its information needs will be presented. Also the actual status will be provided on other Environmental Information Systems that are in use worldwide.
Parallel workshop sessions are organized on practical topics like the latest developments on availability of water related information, the latest enhancements in WISE RTD through real life sessions, linking WISE-RTD with water related databases. Also specific WFD and IWRM experiences from EU and non-EU countries will be communicated.

A unique insight will be provided in the future plans of the EC with respect to the Water Information System Europe (WISE), the use and role of WISE-RTD, the organization of IWRM support to non-EU countries, the twinning processes, etc.

The conference will close with a round table discussion on the availability, sharing and linking of water related information. The sustainability and safeguarding of the available European Water Management Information will be an important issue here.