Wateregio

CoR Opinion on “The Role of Regional and Local Authorities in Promoting Sustainable Water Management” in the ENVE Commission on 5th May

2011-04-20T11:12:00.002+02:00

The draft opinion titled “The Role of Regional and Local Authorities in Promoting Sustainable Water Management”, presented by the rapporteur Mr. Nichi Vendola, the President of the Puglia Region, will be discussed for the second time at the 8th meeting of the Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) on Thursday, 5th May 2011.

The draft opinion was presented and discussed for the first time in the ENVE Commission on 14th February 2011. After the presentation it was opened for comments and amendments, which will be under discussion on 5th May 2011. Document’s final adoption is foreseen for 30th June-1st July on the CoR plenary session.

More information: https://toad.cor.europa.eu/CORAgendas.aspx?body=ENVE-V

U@MARENOSTRUM - eParticipation Results

2011-04-08T19:05:00.001+02:00

The online discussion between citizens and public authorities of the participating regions was initiated with the launch of the platforms. The Greek platform hosted by IonR was launched on January 2010, while the Spanish platform hosted by the Valencia Region on April 2010.

With the end of the project in March 2011 the U@MARENOSTRUM final eParticipation results are encouraging and indicate that:

On both platforms 1883 registered users have participated in the Forum with 1313 posted arguments, on 120 environmental topics connected to 21 Public Consultations regarding water protection and management in the Mediterranean.

For both regions most popular tool is the Forum. The most popular Forum topic in the Greek platform was “The most important predator in danger ...” (“Ο σπουδαιότερος θηρευτής κινδυνεύει...”) with 4785 visits. The most popular Forum topic in the Spanish platform was “Overfishing, an issue of concern in the Mediterranean” (“Sobrepesca, un tema de preocupación en el Mediterráneo”) with 1336 visits.

Moreover, registered users participated in the platform with 228 markers overall on the interactive maps, 1005 electronic signatures overall on the 3 ePetitions hosted on the platforms, 619 answers overall in 6 online surveys, while 22 Electronic Letters have been sent to Officials of IonR by citizen-users (no electronic letters were sent to Officials of the Valencia Region by citizen-users).

The online petition tool and the survey tool are the second and third favourite tools, while the interactive map tool is the fourth most well-liked. Less popular tool is the Letters to Officials. To view the U@MARENOSTRUM platforms click on the links bellow:

1. For Greece: http://uatmarenostrumionianislands.gr/

2. For Spain: http://marenostrum.gva.es/

For further information regarding the project and its activities please visit the informational website of the project at: www.uatmarenostrum.eu.

U@MARENOSTRUM - Project’s Final Results

2011-04-08T17:52:00.002+02:00

The Consortium of the U@MARENOSTRUM project is announcing the end of the project.

The project was specifically designed in the guidelines of the eParticipation Call for Proposals 2008 and was co-funded by the European Commission. The project was developed between 1st of January 2009- 31st of March 2011 by cooperation of the following entities: : GFI Benelux, Gov2u (Greece), The Region of Ionian Islands (Greece), Hellenic Centre for Marine Research– Greece, Foundation Comunidad Valenciana-Región Europea (Spain), and Directorate General for Modernization of Valencia (Spain).

U@MARENOSTRUM aimed to facilitate the development of an online dialogue between citizens and official representatives of the participating regions on issues regarding water protection and management in the Mediterranean. Participating regions in the project were the Ionian Islands Region (Greece), and the Valencia Region (Spain).

The main objective of U@MARENOSTRUM was to contribute in the enhancement of citizens’ engagement with the political process via their active participation in the decision-making in local, regional, national and European level. Simultaneously it intended to foster environmental democracy via public participation utilizing state-of-the-art ICT tools. The project involved two collaborative platforms one for each participating region, through which citizen-users were able to express their views and concerns regarding environmental issues that deal with the maritime environment in the Mediterranean and to discuss with other citizen-users and their official representatives on these issues.

U@MARENOSTRUM combined unique ICT tools such as forum, GIS map, electronic letters, ePetitions and eSurveys, for citizens to be able to voice their opinion regarding water issues in their region. These tools offer the possibility for users to discuss with other citizens as well as their representatives from the participating regions on issues that affect citizens’ everyday life and are related to water.

For further information regarding the project and its activities please visit the informational website of the project at: http://www.uatmarenostrum.eu/

Participation in the MED Programme

2011-04-08T17:12:00.003+02:00

In the Fundación Comunidad Valenciana - Región Europea (FCVRE) we’d like to show you the interest of the Valencian stakeholders in participating in the MED call, which has recently opened the following priorities:

Reopening of the call on programme objective 2.

- Objective 2.3: 'Prevention of maritime risks and strengthening of maritime safety'

Call for strategic projects on priority axis 3.

- Objective 3.1 'Improvement of maritime accessibility and transit capacity'

- Objective 3.2 'Support of the use of information technology for better accessibility and territorial cooperation'

In the FCVRE we work as an active partner to facilitate the creation of European consortiums and spread Valencian initiatives among European regions through active networking. We kindly ask you to count on us if you’re willing to submit a project proposal to this call, and you’re interested in involving any Valencian entity which would provide the expected input. Please do not hesitate to contact us for any queries you may have:

Elena Pertegaz Álvarez. Fundación Comunidad Valenciana - Región Europea. Edmond Mesens, 7a - B-1040 Bruxelles/Brussel. Tel: +32 2 282 41 60, Fax: +32 2 282 41 61. epertegaz@delcomval.be

European Water Forum Seminar: "Water and Forest - The Relationship with the Mediterranean Region"

2011-03-09T11:35:00.003+01:00

MEP Cristina Gutierrez-Cortines, as president of the European Water Forum (http://www.europeanwaterforum.com/) will host a meeting entitled 'Water and Forest - The Relationship with the Mediterranean Region' on Tuesday March 15th from 16.00-18.00 in the European Parliament in Brussels (Room JAN 6Q1).

Draft programme:

Prof. Millán MILLAN
Member of the External Advisory Group on Global Change & Ecosystems of the 6th FP
Executive Director Fundación CEAM
(Mediterranean Environmental Studies Centre - www.gva.es/ceam)

Mr Michael HAMELL
Head of Unit B1 - Agriculture, Forests and Soil
DG Environment

Mr Friedrich BARTH
Vice-Chairman
European Water Partnership

For any questions and to RSVP, please contact: aisling.fenton@europarl.europa.eu

Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform Survey on “The role of regional and local authorities in promoting sustainable water policy”

2011-02-23T15:38:00.002+01:00

To address the challenges of water scarcity and drought, water policy must promote efficient and sustainable management of water resources and the local and regional authorities have a role to play in this context.

As the European Commission will carry out a review of EU water policy by 2012 as part of the "Resource Efficiency" Flagship Initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy, the Committee of the Regions will adopt an Outlook Opinion on "The role of regional and local authorities in promoting a sustainable water policy" at its plenary session in June 2011, as requested by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (Rapporteur: Mr. Nichi Vendola, IT/PES).

To contribute to the preparation of the CoR Opinion, and to feed into the second CoR Monitoring Report on Europe 2020 (to be published in December 2011), the CoR's Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform asks to participate in a survey by answering some questions by 4 March 2011 at the latest in any official EU language, at europe2020@cor.europa.eu.

The survey document and the questions can be found here:

http://portal.cor.europa.eu/europe2020/news/Pages/SustainableWaterPolicySurvey.aspx

Outlook Opinion on “The role of regional and local authorities in promoting sustainable water policy”

2011-02-23T15:28:00.002+01:00

The Committee of the Regions (CoR) has been drafting an Outlook Opinion requested by the Hungarian EU Presidency on “The role of regional and local authorities in promoting sustainable water policy”.

The Rapporteur on the opinion, Mr. Nichi Vendola, Member of the ENVE Commission of the CoR and the President of the Region of Apulia (IT), presented the working document during the ENVE Commission's seventh meeting, held at the Committee building on Monday, 14 February 2011. It was followed by statements by Mr. István Kling, State Secretary for Water, Ministry of Rural Development of Hungary, and Mr. Peter Gammeltoft, Head of Water Unit, DG Environment, European Commission, and an exchange of views, as well. The first discussion and adoption of the draft opinion by the Commission is foreseen on 5 May 2011 whereas the final adoption of the CoR is expected at the plenary session of 30 June and 1 July 2011.

The day after, 15 February 2011, the President of the Region of Apulia and his expert, Mr. Umberto Fratino, met with representatives of the associations of local and regional authorities and other stakeholders for a public consultation and exchange of views on his opinion, at the premises of the CoR. The consultation focused on a set of questions that were identified in the request by the Hungarian Presidency:

• How to put the water cycle at the heart of European to local level adaptation to climate change?
• How to address water scarcity by balancing water demand, supply and in particular ecosystem needs, and by considering issues such as introducing targets for water saving and water quantity management in line with Water Framework Directive? How to manage extreme water events in a more integrated manner, by seeking new types of interventions?
• With regard to governance issues: What conclusions do local and regional authorities draw form the first series of river basin management plans? Which role local and regional authorities can play in strengthening of international cooperation within river basins?
• How the EU and the Member States can and should provide support to local and regional authorities in the above-mentioned fields?

The Valencian Region and Saxony-Anhalt will collaborate in the field of water management

2010-08-03T16:08:00.000+02:00

The Head of the Valencian regional directorate for water affairs, José María Benlliure, and the Director General of the Agua y Progreso (Water and Progress) foundation, José Alberto Comos, met on Wednesday 28th July with the minister for Agriculture and Environment of the German region Saxony-Anhalt, as well as with the Mayor of the German city of Halle, in order to sign a joint agreement.

This agreement will allow mutual collaboration and the exchange of experiences and good practices in the field of water management, particularly in aspects such as water supply, irrigation, flood prevention and wastewater treatment.

Mr. Benlliure said that the agreement is very positive for the interests of the Valencian Region, because the regional authorities of Saxony-Anhalt "are very experienced in managing water transfers and ensuring an adequate supply of drinking water to all the households in the region".

He also stated: "Considering the acute water scarcity which affects the Valencian Region, and despite the efforts deployed to treat and reuse wastewater as well as to modernise irrigation systems, the Valencian Region needs a water transfer from those basins with a larger amount of water than needed, like the one that has been built between the Tajo and Segura rivers or the plan to transfer the water surplus of the Ebro river".

Mr. Benlliure asserted that, through this agreement, both regions would learn experiences from each other. "This way, the Valencian Region will have the opportunity to benefit from German knowledge in water transfers and supply, and the Germans will learn from the Valencian know-how in the field of water treatment".

Joint participation in European projects
The agreement between the Valencian Region and Saxony-Anhalt also includes several measures designed to foster joint participation in European projects for interregional cooperation as well as the exchange of ideas and information about water supply and water transfer strategy.

The document also foresees the beginning of several joint projects in the fields of water management, climate change and renewable energies.

EFIAQUA: International Fair for Water Efficiency

2010-06-21T11:48:00.002+02:00

The first edition of the International Fair for Water Efficiency "EFIAQUA" will be hosted in Valencia (Spain) from the 16th-18th of febrary in the frame of the so called "Environment Fairs" that gathers apart from EFIAQUA, Ecofira and Egética, the first one on environmental technologies and the second on energy efficiency technologies.

According to the statutes of EFIAQUA's steering committee, composed by representatives from private sectorial organizations, valencian universities and public bodies, the Fair aims to offer a new format in which innovation and education will be the main axes.

The addressed sectors will mainly be related to captation and water treatment, supply and distribution, flood control, coastal protection, funding of projects and training of specialized press.

More information on the website of Feria Valencia: http://feria.feriavalencia.com

CLIMATE - KIC "Making a step-change in Europe's innovation capacity to meet the climate change challenge"

2010-06-15T15:42:00.009+02:00

What is the CLIMATE - KIC?

The Climate - KIC (www.climate-kic.org) is one of the three knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) designated by the European institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), with a budget of 765 million Euros for the next four years. This initiative focuses on achieving excellence in four areas related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, highlighting the area on ADAPTATIVE WATER MANAGEMENT.

The CLIMATE - KIC consortium consists of 16 core partners, five from the academic side, one Regional Innovation and Implementation Community (RIC) which consists of Valencian Region (Spain), Central Hungary (Hungary), Lower Silesia (Poland), West Midlands (UK), Hessen (Germany) and Emilia Romagna (Italy), and ten enterprises from the corporate world.

First Wave Research and Innovation Projects of the Climate-KIC

An open call for full proposals was scheduled on May 21-2010, for funding of research and innovation projects, with a deadline on August 6-2010 although it has not been published on the Climate-KIC portal yet. A full proposal can be submitted in this period although an Expression of Interest was not previously submitted.

Four focus programmes have been identified including ADAPTATIVE WATER MANAGEMENT.

In the web portal details are given on how to submit an expression on interest which could help you to prepare a full proposal for this next call. The funding requested may be maximal 25% of the funding supplied by the Consortium.

NEW - Pioneers into Practice Programme - Expressions of Interest Call 2010/2011 - NEW

Climate - KIC is launching an exciting knowledge development programme called Pioneers into Practice, with the aim of producing a new generation of specialists, entrepreneurs and policy-makers with high-level skills for the loe carbon transition.

Participants will be required to undertake three-one month placements over a twelve-month period. The first and final placements will be in the participants regions of origin whereas the second one will take place in one of the other European regions involved in the RIC.

Participants will be required to complete a project-assignment, focused on a low carbon living and low carbon mobility initiatives, during each placement.

The last two days of each placement will allow participants to take part in intensive workshops known as "Crucibles" and every participant froma cross the six regions will also attend the Innovation festival in June in Budapest.

Overview on the activities and timetable:

Entry to the programme is open to people living, working or studying in each region, with a deadline on June 18th 2010.

Participants will receive 9.000 euros for participating in the programmme, which in most instances will be made to their employer or place of study, as well as the attendance to the annual Innovation Festival.

Further information on participation is available from the Pioneers into Practice Manager in your region or at: mirun@delcomval.be

REPORT ON WATER SCARCITY AND DROUGHTS BY THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL

2010-06-15T12:34:00.006+02:00

The European Council adopted conclusions on water scarcity, drought and adaptation to climate change presented by the European Commission during the last session on 11th of June.
As main conclusions, the Council supports the development of a european drought observatory, which would be changed with forecasting and monitoring as well as the exchange of best practices between relevant actors and stakeholders.
it also encourages member states to elaborate water scarcity and drought management plans and to promote sustainable water use in agriculture.

Press release:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/envir/115143.pdf

2010-06-14T13:40:00.006+02:00

A successful example of LIFE + project : AQUAVAL

Approved in 2008 under the heading "Policy and Governance", the principal aim of this ambitious project is to provide innovative solutions to problems related to runoff quantity and quality in the urban environment in the Valencian Region (Spain).

Through the integration of part of the hydraulic infrastructure into the municipal landscape using Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS), thereby decreasing the impacts of urban development and adding social and environmental values to the programmed actions.

The main objectives are to:

Avoid combined sewer overflows in order to improve water quality of the receiving water courses (rivers Albaida and Turia)
Save on potable water by exploiting Natural Water Resources (rain water) in order to use it for irrigation, street cleaning, etc
Develop community environmental policy through the integration of environmental concerns into planning and urban water policies, thereby contrbuting to sustainable development.
Reduce energy consumption (and consequently CO2 emissions to the atmosphere) both in the water management cycle (pumping, sewer treatment plants) and in buildings (with the use of green infrastructures).

Partners:

Council of Xàtiva (Spain) - leaders of the project

Council of Benaguasil (Spain)

PM Enginyeria (Spain)

University of Abertay (UK)

Fundación Comunidad Valenciana - Región Europea (Spain)

More info: www.aquavalproject.eu

Contact: info@uegva.info

2010-06-14T10:46:00.004+02:00

LIFE + CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The fourth LIFE + call for proposals has been published on 4th May 2010, with up to 243 million euros available for cofinancing of projects under three headings: nature and biodiversity; environment policy and governance; and information and communication.

Water is a main issue to be addressed in every component!

LIFE + Nature and Biodiversity

Aims to protect, conserve, restore, monitor and facilitate the functioning of natural systems, natural habitats, wild flora and fauna, with the aim of halting the loss of biodiversity, including diversity of genetic resources, within the EU 2010.

This heading would include the protection of wetlands, groundwater and water as a limited resource.

LIFE + Environment Policy and Governance

This component will cofinance projects that contribute to the implementation of Community environmental policy, the development of innovative policy approaches, technologies, methods and instruments and the monitoring of environmental preassures such as water scarcity.

Water is addressed as a main priority in order to contribute to enhanced water quality by developing cost-effective measures to achieve good ecological status in view of developing river basin management plans under the Water Framework Directive.

LIFE + Information and Communication

Aims to disseminate information and raise awareness on environmental issues, including forest fire prevention; and to provide support for accompanying measures, such as information, communication actions and campaigns, conferences and training, including training on forest fire prevention.

This heading considers the design of awareness raising campaigns on water scarcity in the affected Member States.

For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/life/funding/lifeplus.htm

Project proposals should be sent no later than 1st September 2010.

Do you have any project proposal? then let's work together!!

Contact water@delcomval.be

Breakfast at Sustainability's

2010-06-08T09:44:00.011+02:00

On Monday the 7th of June, the Regional Representation of Istria in Brussels hosted

the workshop "Breakfast at Sustainability's" with reference to the classical "Breakfast at Tiffany's" that ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability - a series of thematic seminars organized by the ICLEI's Office in Brussels in cooperation with regional and local authorities.

The Workshop entitled "Using water more efficiently - burning issues, current approaches, new alliances at local level" brought together regional and local representatives, non-profit organizations and the European Commission aiming to exchange good practices in the field of effcient water management at the local and regional scale.

As members of Wateregio, Dino Babic, Director of the Istria Office and Juan Manuel

Revuelta, Director General of the Valencian Regional Office both based in Brussels, explained the current situation in the Mediterranean Basin countries emphasizing the need of new financial tools, the raising awareness campaings and the modernization of hydric infrastructures as key issues in facing the challenge of climate change and its impacts on water scarcity and droughts processes.

Also, Ms. Andrea Nam, expert from the European Commission, DG Environment, explained how the Water Framework Directive could be modified as result of the studies on water scarcity that the Commission is carrying out ending up with a review on the EU strategy for 2012.

Wateregio was presented in the European Youth Water Summit

2010-03-26T12:05:00.013+01:00

A few days before the World Water Day, the first European Youth Water Summit gave the floor to young citizens aged between 15 and 25 years and coming from all 27 EU Member states, accessing and other European countries to share and discuss water community challenges, needs and priorities arising from the management of a limited and valuable resource, such as water, and their experience and activities carried out in this field.

As part of this conference, the director of the Brussels office representing the Croatian region of Istria, Dino Babic, put forward the water policies in the Istria Region and the Valencian Region as well as Wateregio, a network of regions involved in the sustainable and inclusive management of the water. Moreover, Dino Babic presented the conclusions of the Summer School organised in Valencia by the Assembly of European Regions in the summer of 2009 with the slogan "Water, for our future engagement”.

European Youth Water Partnership was organised by European Water Partnerhip and was hosted in the European Parliament on 17th and 18th March 2010.

FP7 call on environment presented in Brussels

2009-09-17T17:44:00.004+02:00

Either the seminar was a big success or the room was too small, but the participants report that the place was packed

The Commission has organised an RTD Environment Infoday in Brussels, to present the call FP7-ENV-2010. All calls will be closed the 5th January 2010.

Documents available in:
http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/rtd/rtdenv2010call/library?l=/&vm=detailed&sb=Title

Let's start the partner hunting!

Upload your project ideas in this blog. Write to mortiz@delcomval.be

A company proposes new technology to transport water by undersea pipe

2009-09-09T16:41:00.006+02:00

The system is named submariver®. Its principle consists in taking of fresh water from river mouths, which can be, at least partially, abstracted just upstream the salt wedge without significant impact (no more downstream issues). It is then transported by underwater pipes parallel to the coast (across the sea for islands).

The system is in phase of development, and could be implemented in pilot projects. The company is in contact with several regional and state authorities.

This patented system is structured around a special and very flexible pipe that adapts to the seabed profile without preparation of the ground. It is laid on the sea bottom (typically at 200m depth) and ballasted. At destination in coastal areas, it is distributed through the local network after usage-specific treatment.

This system can also be used to transport farther away water flowing out of sewage treatment plants in coastal areas that pour their treated water into the sea and where there is no local reuse demand. Usually, these flows are much smaller than those available at river mouths, but they should nevertheless be considered as well, albeit cautiously in light of their real post treatment quality.

According to the company, the main characteristics of this system are as follows:

1. Its prices are low (0.1 – 0.3€/m3 in most cases). Delivery of fresh water at an economical price satisfactorily meets large demands, especially agricultural uses.

2. Its energy consumption is less than 0.2kWh/m3 in most cases, which is about 5% of the energy necessary for seawater desalination.

3. Its construction can be conducted in 1 to 2 years in most cases as the laying pace is about 2km per day. An over investment of 15% at the outset typically brings the flexibility to meet a 50% increase in demand over time.

4. It is simple and sturdy which allows operation by workforce with lower qualification, without external technological dependence.

A representative of the company, Mr Felix Bogliolo, presented the device in the last meeting of Wateregio last July.

Contact: www.via-marina.com, info@via-marina.com

AER Summer School on TV

2009-09-01T17:29:00.000+02:00

AER Summer School on EU Observer

2009-09-01T11:32:00.005+02:00

Spanish region pushes for intelligent water use

Valencia's sewage water is filtered and re-used to irrigate rice fields (Photo: EUobserver)

VALENTINA POP
31.08.2009 @ 17:34 CET

EUOBSERVER/VALENCIA – The Spanish region of Valencia is lobbying for the EU to develop a policy to promote the "intelligent" use of water using the renewable energy model, as world consumption of water will triple in the next ten years.

In the marshes of Albufera, just a few kilometres south of the city of Valencia, it is hard to believe that the region is frequently hit by drought and has a long tradition of dealing with water scarcity. Separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a natural sand barrier, the 27 square kilometre fresh water lake is surrounded by swamps and rice fields. "Paella has to come from somewhere," a guide tells visitors to the national park of Albufera.

One steady source of irrigation for the rice crops is waste water from Valencia, a city of 800,000 inhabitants. A sewage water treatment plant worth €15 million was 80 percent financed by the EU's regional development fund and is expected to last until 2025.

Intelligent irrigation systems and the re-use of rain and waste water are just some examples of what the local university and research centres are developing and implementing in the region.

As global water consumption is expected to grow threefold in the next ten years and energy consumption to double in the same period, the EU needs to be more active in this field, says Juan Manuel Revuelta, Valencia's point-man in Brussels.

"We would like to see that in some years from now, the EU commission creates an initiative called 'intelligent water for Europe' - that means a better management of water and better communication, similar to what it is doing with renewable energy," he told this website on the margins of a summer school called „Water – engagement for our future" organised by the Assembly of European Regions in Valencia on 24-28 August.

Mr Revuelta said he was pleased to see 15 concrete projects sealed between various European regions and aimed at tapping EU funds coming from the event.

"One project is on drafting legislation at regional and national level facilitating ecodesign constructions which enable people to collect rain water for a second use in irrigation or for the toilets," he said.

Malta and Valencia are participating in the project, but some other non-EU members, such as Jordan, also expressed their interest.

Valencia's 700 year old experience with the so-called Water Courts is used in another project for legislative and governance tools aimed at preventing and settling water-related conflicts in Israel and Palestine. The Valencian water tribunal consists of seven elected judges gathering every Thursday in a a public square and settling disputes between farmers. Its verdicts are binding, recognised by the Spanish constitution and cannot be challenged in another court.

Water on the EU agenda

Polish MEP Danuta Hubner, chairwoman of the regional development committee, says water will be a "major priority" of EU regional policy.

"There are regions that will require specific responses, which will be more affected than others by droughts, floods or water scarcity," she said. "That is why, more than ever, the European regional policy 2007-2013 will be ambitious in its environmental initiatives at local and regional level."

Ms Hubner mentioned the Baltic Sea strategy drawn up while she was commissioner for regional affairs, which is aimed at saving the sea from dying if the regions around it coordinate their environmental actions.

Klaus Klipp, secretary general of the Assembly of European Regions, emphasized the need to create regional lobbies to stand up for common European issues, such as water scarcity and droughts. Choosing Spain as the location for this summer school was no accident as the southern country is EU's most threatened member by desertification and drought.

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Millán Millán: “Research showed that torrential rains in the Mediterranean were increasing at the same time that Atlantic rains were decreasing”

2009-08-31T10:57:00.005+02:00

Dr Millán in the Spanish press this week

Dr. Millán Millán, director of the Center for Environmental Studies in the Mediterranean (CEAM), participated today in the 14th Summer School of the Assembly of European Regions, hold in Valencia this week.

During his speech, Mr. Millán lectured on the historical trend of changes in rainfall cycles in the Mediterranean basin, affecting the rains all over Europe. Specifically, the scientific pointed out that as early as the year 1974 the European Commission started its research on atmospheric pollution, which led to findings on the lack of summer storms in the Mediterranean.

"European Commission DG Environment discovered that torrential rains in the Mediterranean were increasing at the same time that Atlantic rains were decreasing", stated Dr. Millán.

According to this expert, "the Mediterranean has a unique atmospheric circulation system in which water vapor goes up to the mountain and comes back to the sea without rainfalls". The importance of this model justifies that "the European Commission has earmarked 200 million euro to study this phenomenon".

Dr. Millán is, besides the director of CEAM since its creation in 1990, author of 96 scientific publications and other works. He is member of several international and European scientific committees and has received an honorary doctorate from Universidad Miguel Hernández from Elche (Alicante-Spain).

The CEAM has worked with Wateregio in drafting the project proposal 'Waterstar' for the last Interreg MED call.

CEAM: http://www.ceam.es/

Hübner in “Deep Water” at AER Summer School in Valencia

2009-08-31T10:51:00.006+02:00

L. to R.: Mr Klipp, SG of the AER, Ms Hübner, MEP Chairwoman of the Committee REGI, and Mr Ripoll, Valencian Regional Deputy Minister in charge of EU affairs

Valencia (E), 28th August 2009.

In her first speech as chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Committee for Regional Development, Danuta Hübner has said that water will be a “major priority” of the EU’s Regional Policy. “There are regions that will require specific responses, which will be more affected than others by droughts, floods or water scarcity,” Ms Hübner said today. “That is why, more than ever, the European regional policy 2007-2013 will be ambitious in its environmental initiatives at local and regional level.” Ms Hübner was speaking on the final day of the Assembly of European Regions’ (AER) 14th annual Summer School, hosted by the Spanish region of Valencia.

Focusing this year on water issues, the week-long event in the city of Valencia brought together around 150 regional politicians, officers and young people, along with international experts and EU officials, to address the many challenges related to water.

AER president Michèle Sabban, speaking earlier this week, said: “We are not in Valencia by accident. Spain is the European country most threatened by desertification and drought.” “By bringing young people together with experts and politicians to discuss this increasingly global problem, we hope to promote a new “water culture” in the regions. The young people here can take back to the regions what they have learnt this week, thereby raising awareness among peers who will face the consequences tomorrow of what we do today.”

The summer school featured expert speakers, roundtables and workshops, along with study visits where participants could see firsthand the Valencia region’s expertise in water management.

Valencia’s deputy minister for European affairs, Rafael Ripoll, noted that the region of Valencia, whose strong commitment to addressing water scarcity has made it a European leader in the field, is the “perfect framework to talk about promoting the better use of water across all the European regions.” Background The proper management of water plays a key role in maintaining biodiversity, human health as well as in economic and social development. The “blue” challenge is of huge importance as the world enters a water crisis. Safe access to water for all is one of the Millennium Goals, while water savings can be improved by around 40% in Europe.

By bringing together decision makers, officials and young people, the AER Summer School in Valencia aimed to provide the tools to regions to tackle the challenges of water management. Participants were able to share experiences, develop new instruments to raise awareness and define strategies to contribute to creating a water-saving culture across the regions of Europe.

Find more information about initiatives in the field of water at:
http://www.uegva.info/fundacioncv/dinweb/index.php?pagId=328

http://www.uegva.info/fundacioncv/bbdd/index.php

Find more information about AER’s 14th Summer School at:

http://www.aer.eu/en/events/summer-school/2000-2009/aerss2009.html

Opening ot the AER Summer School on water

2009-08-26T14:03:00.002+02:00

AER secretary-general Klaus Klipp underlined in his speech at the 14th AER Summer School opening in Valencia the paramount importance that cooperation between regions in EU programmes and projects plays in tackling climate change.

Mr. Klipp emphasised the need to create regional lobbies to stand up for common European issues, such as water scarcity and droughts. He also noted that AER is currently developing several projects in the field, related to tourism, renewable energies and climate change.

Together with the director-general of the Valencian Regional Office in Brussels, Juan Manuel Revuelta, Mr. Klipp explained the goals of the 14th AER Summer School, which this year has gathered over 150 participants from across wider Europe to discuss policies related to water and climate change.

Since 1996, AER’s summer schools have been bringing together politicians and other representatives from youth civil society and regional authorities, along with European and regional experts, to explore a different topic every year.

At this year’s event, Mr. Revuelta highlighted the commitment of the Valencian Region to “face the problem of water scarcity, droughts and desertification which affects our region, as well as other places in the south of Europe”.

Mr. Revuelta also supported the major role of interregional cooperation in addressing this situation. The director-general further explained that “Fundación Comunidad Valenciana – Región Europea has attracted 66 million euro to the Valencian Region in European funding, mainly in projects related to environment and energy efficiency”.

For this reason, Mr. Revuelta stated that “the Valencian Region leads the way in obtaining European environmental projects”.

He also stressed the role of the Fundación in establishing European partnerships in water issues, such as Wateregio, the European Water Network, which brings together 10 regions committed to finding solutions against water scarcity and droughts.

Specifically, the programme ENPI Mediterranean Basin has launched a new call, to be closed on October 20th, which welcomes the submission of projects in the field of cross-border cooperation. Likewise, the programme Life + has launched another call, to be closed on September 15th; Ecoinnovation, to be closed early September, and EuropAid, which allocates 70 million euro for initiative regarding environment, renewable energies and energy efficiency.

AER contacts:
Jascha Scheele j.scheele@aer.eu

Wateregio contact:
Alfonso Alcolea aalcolea@delcomval.be

Félicitations à la Région PACA

2009-06-25T18:14:00.001+02:00

World Water Forum 2012 in Marseille!

On Friday, the World Water Council selected Marseille (France) as the city and country to host the 2012 World Water Forum. The selection followed a process for evaluating the candidates and a final vote from the Council's Board of Governors. The World Water Forum is the world's largest water gathering that brings together over 20,000 political leaders, NGOs, government officials, water professionals, and scientists every three years.

Meeting next Thursday 25th June

2009-06-23T12:30:00.004+02:00

Date: 25th June 2009. 17h30.

Venue: Room JDE53 - Committee of the Regions. Rue Belliard 99-101 Brussels.

Provisional Agenda: (version 1, as proposed the 18th May)

The meeting will be hold simultaneously to the Zero Plus conference.
Please check the agenda of the Zero Plus seminar, as the speakers may be of your interest.

17:30 - 18:00 Welcome and project forum corner.

Round Table about new answers for water treatment in the industrial sector; future collaboration and new sustainable project ideas.

Moderator: Mr Alfonso Alcolea
Proposals. ENPI project on water management “Water communities”.
LIFE+ project - Wateregio. FP7 on conductions of water

18:00 Closed-door meeting.

§ Approval of the record of activities.
§ Report about legal personality of Wateregio.
§ New steering committee.
§ Other business

Annual bathing water report 2009

2009-06-12T11:40:00.004+02:00

Bathing water quality improving

The annual bathing water report was presented the 11th June by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency reveals that the large majority of bathing sites across the European Union met EU hygiene standards in 2008. During that bathing season some 96% of coastal bathing areas and 92% of bathing sites in rivers and lakes complied with minimum standards. The report provides useful water quality information for the millions of people who visit Europe's beaches every summer.

Bathing water quality shows a long-term upward trend

Every summer millions of Europeans head for the beach to enjoy the sun and to cool down in refreshing clean water. To allow Europeans to make an informed choice on which beach to choose, the Commission publishes a yearly report on the quality of coastal and freshwater bathing areas as reported by Member States for the beaches located within their territory. This year the report was prepared by the European Environment Agency (EEA), which is also making available on its website maps and tables with detailed information on specific bathing areas.

In 2008 the number of bathing waters monitored increased by some 75 sites. Of the 21,400 bathing areas monitored throughout the European Union in 2008 two thirds were on the coast and the rest were along rivers and lakes. The largest number of coastal bathing waters can be found in Italy, Greece, France, Spain and Denmark while Germany and France have the highest number of inland bathing waters .

The overall quality of bathing waters in the EU has markedly improved since 1990. Compliance with mandatory values ( minimum quality requirements) increased over the 1990 to 2008 period from 80% to 96% and from 52% to 92% in coastal and inland waters respectively. From 2007 to 2008 compliance increased both for inland and coastal waters (1.1 and 3.3 percentage points respectively).

Twelve Member States monitoring under the new bathing directive

Bathing areas are zones where bathing is explicitly authorised or where bathing is traditionally practised by a large number of bathers and is not prohibited.
To determine their quality bathing waters are tested against a number of physical, chemical and microbiological parameters for which the Bathing Water Directive

1 sets out mandatory values. Member States must comply with the mandatory values but may adopt the stricter standards and non-binding guide values .

In 2006 a new bathing water directive

2 took effect which updated the parameters and monitoring provisions in line with the latest scientific knowledge. The new Directive places greater emphasis on providing information to the public on the quality of bathing areas. Member States have until 2015 to fully implement the new Directive but twelve Member States (Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden) already monitored their bathing areas during the 2008 bathing season according to the parameters of the new Directive.

The report

A summary of the report and detailed country reports are available in English on the Commission’s bathing water website at:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-bathing/report_2009.html

Zoomable maps of all European bathing areas can be viewed on the EEA website :

www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water/status-and-monitoring/state-of-bathing-water

1 :Directive 76/160/EEC on the quality of bathing water
2 :Directive 2006/7/EC on the management of bathing water quality

U@MARENOSTRUM, strengthening Public Participation for water protection and management

2009-06-08T10:05:00.000+02:00

The Valencian Region works together with regions from France and Greece to promote citizen's partiticipation for European issues
A new e-Participation project called U@MARENOSTRUM has been started this year. The project is co-funded by the European Commission within the e-Participation Call for Proposals 2008 and aims to involve citizens and local actors (community groups, associations etc.) from the Mediterranean costal zones in decision-making processes with the help of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and GIS (Geographic Information System). These processes have to do with the adoption and implementation of water and marine environmental protection policies and legislations in the Mediterranean region in accordance with the European Union (EU) environmental legislation. The project will be developed between 1st of January 2009-31st of December 2009 by cooperation of the following entities: : GFI Benelux, Gov2u (Greece), The Region of Ionian Islands (Greece), Hellenic Centre for Marine Research– Greece, Foundation Comunidad Valenciana-Región Europea (Spain), The Community of French Riviera (France) and Directorate General for Modernization of Valencia (Spain).

The project will lead to the development of a user friendly portal that captures information on a geographical map. The citizens will be able to register and post their views about water issues by placing flags with written comments to appropriate locations on the maps that will exist on this portal. Additionally they will be able to participate in discussion forums on specific policy issues that will be proposed by the local or national authorities or by them. In order to contact and directly interact with the decision-makers, citizens will be able to use online petitions and letters to officials in which they can express their views, concerns and questions related to environmental issues. The platform will also feature a section that visualizes the different stages of the legislative process in a graphical matrix - from the introduction of a new topic, to the consultation process, the discussion and the passing of a draft bill in the local or regional Council or in the Parliament.

Trial applications during a period of 14 months will be conducted in 3 end-user locations around the Mediterranean region; namely the Region on Ionian Islands (Greece), the French Riviera (France) and the Region of Valencia (Spain). Three internet platforms will be hosted at the end of August 2009 in the participating regions and will be given a regional ‘look and feel’ (including language) to ensure users’ participation. The platforms will be specifically designed to serve the citizens from the participating regions, but citizens from other regions of these countries will be welcome to use the platforms, as well.

In order to identify the best ways to increase the participation of the citizens in this project, a study has already been developed in order to analyze the attitudes of the citizens from the participating countries regarding their participation in environmental decision-making. At the same time, during March, a survey has been conducted among more than 150 citizens and public officials from the participating countries, in order to accurately gather the users’ requirements and needs regarding the functionality of the U@Marenostrum platform, so as to ensure its sufficiency in its utility.

For further information about the U@Marenostrum project you are welcome to visit the project’s website: www.uatmarenostrum.eu

La Comunitat Valenciana promueve la participación ciudadana en la gestión del agua

2009-06-08T09:52:00.002+02:00

Este año ha empezado un nuevo proyecto llamado U@MARENOSTRUM. Este proyecto cofinanciado por la Comisión Europea en el marco de la Convocatoria 2008 del Programa e-Participation tiene como objetivo implicar a los ciudadanos y agentes locales de la zona costera Mediterránea (asociaciones, grupos de interés, etc.), a través de las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) y los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) en el proceso en el legislativo necesario para la adopción e implementación de las políticas y la normativa de protección del agua y del medio marino en la región mediterránea de acuerdo con la legislación medioambiental de la Unión Europea. El proyecto se desarrollará desde el 1 de enero de 2009 hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2010 con la cooperación de las siguientes entidades: GFI (Bélgica), Gov2u (Grecia), la Región de las Islas Jónicas, (Grecia), el Centro Helenístico de Investigación Marina (Grecia), la Fundación Comunidad Valenciana-Región Europea (España), la Comunidad de la Riviera Francesa (Francia) y la Dirección General de Modernización de la Conselleria de Justicia y Administraciones Públicas de la Comunidad Valenciana (España).

El proyecto desarrollará una plataforma sencilla de utilizar que contendrá toda la información en un mapa geográfico. Los ciudadanos podrán registrarse y opinar sobre cuestiones relativas al agua ubicando banderas con comentarios sobre localizaciones recogidas en un mapa que estará disponible en la plataforma. Además los usuarios podrán participar en foros de debate relativos a temas políticos concretos propuestos por entidades locales o nacionales o por los mismos ciudadanos. Para poder contactar e interactuar directamente con los políticos, los ciudadanos podrán utilizar varias herramientas como peticiones online y enviar cartas a los políticos en las que podrán expresar sus puntos de vista, inquietudes y preguntas relativas a aspectos medioambientales. La plataforma contará también con una herramienta para visualizar los diferentes pasos del proceso legislativo en un gráfico, desde la introducción de un nuevo tema, hasta el proceso consultivo, el debate y la aprobación de un anteproyecto.

Durante catorce meses se realizará un período de pruebas en tres regiones europeas de la zona mediterránea: la Región de las Islas Jónicas (Grecia), la Rivera Francesa (Francia) y la Comunitat Valenciana. A finales de agosto de 2009 dichas regiones dispondrán de una plataforma regional adaptada a las necesidades de cada territorio (incluido el lenguaje) para asegurar la participación de los usuarios. Las plataformas estarán diseñadas para atender a los ciudadanos de las regiones participantes, aunque los ciudadanos de otras regiones o países también están invitados al uso de las mismas.

Con el objetivo de identificar la mejor manera de incrementar la participación de los ciudadanos en este proyecto, previamente se ha desarrollado un estudio que analiza las actitudes de los ciudadanos de estas tres regiones ante la participación ciudadana en el proceso legislativo en materia medioambiental. Paralelamente, durante el mes de marzo, se ha realizado una encuesta a más de 150 ciudadanos y representantes políticos de las regiones participantes para recabar los requisitos y necesidades de los ciudadanos en cuanto a la funcionalidad de la plataforma U@Marenostrum y con ello asegurar su utilidad.

Para más información sobre el proyecto U@Marenostrum visite la página web del proyecto: www.uatmarenostrum.eu

Commission organises workshop on climate change 17-18 June

2009-05-25T13:00:00.002+02:00

The European Commission, DG Environment, is organizing a two-days workshop on Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Climate Change Vulnerability Indicators, to be held on 17 - 18 June 2009 in Brussels, Belgium.

The European Commission recently presented a White Paper outlining the framework for adaptation measures and policies to reduce the European Union's vulnerability to the impacts of climate change:
(http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/adaptation/index_en.htm).

Two key elements of the action plan proposed for the first phase 2009-12 are the development of vulnerability and adaptation indicators, and the capacity building of regional and local authorities.

On the first day (Wednesday 17 June, 9:30-17:30), regional climate adaptation strategies will be discussed. The objectives are 1) to present and discuss the current EU situation with regard to the regional climate adaptation strategies; and 2) to present and discuss guidelines or toolbox to support regions to develop climate adaptation strategies.

On the second day (Thursday 18 June, 9:30-16:00), the discussion will be about assessing and developing vulnerability indicators for the EU. The objectives are 1) to present and discuss the findings of the literature review and data scoping exercise; and 2) to review and discuss a set of options for the further development and elaboration of vulnerability indicators at regional or sectoral level.

This workshop is organized in co-ordination with EEA’s 3rd EIONET workshop on Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation (Copenhague, 30 June – 1 July 2009) and EEA’s Expert workshop on Vulnerability mapping adaptation indicators (Copenhagen, 2-3 July 2009). The focus of the present workshops will on the "end-user" perspective at EU, regional, local and sectoral level.

Participants to the workshop are representative from national, regional and local authorities as well as experts from European Commission services. Participation is free of charge, no reimbursement of travel expenses is foreseen.

The deadline to confirm participation is Wednesday 3 June 2009 to Stefanie Wurm by e-mail (climate_adaptation@ecologic-events.de). A detailed agenda and background documents will be available shortly on: http://www.ecologic-events.eu/climate_adaptation

For further information:

Mr Jacques Delsalle

European Commission

DG Environment Unit D.2. Protection of Water and Marine Environment

Email: Jacques.Delsalle@ec.europa.eu

Wateregio to celebrate general open meeting the 25th June in the Committee of the Regions, Brussels

2009-05-21T12:41:00.007+02:00

NOTE (22/May): The date initially foreseen was the 24th June. The Committee of the Regions has confirmed the availability of the room the 25th June. Therefore the date is changed to the last day of the Green Week.

Wateregio work meeting last 18th May

During the meeting of Wateregio last 18th May, the main decisions were the following ones:

Approve the record of activities 2008-2009. Acknowledgement to the Istrian Region for organising decentralised activities, and to the members of the Steering Committee.
Information about cooperations with the AER and the CRPM, in particular the AER Summer Schoool open to registrations and to contributions.
Wateregio will submit a proposal for LIFE+ governance and communication, to be funded as a network. Other project proposals were studied in the meeting.

The next meeting of Wateregio will take place the afternoon of the 25th June, during the Green Week, in the Committee of the Regions. This meeting will be open to all the regions and possible parties who could potentially be members of Wateregio. Also Ambassadors from Mediterranean countries will be invited to participate in a project forum corner.

Politically, the network will contribute to the works of the European Commission on water scarcity and droughts by submitting examples of best practices in the questionnaires sent by DG Environment, and will study the working document SEC (2009) 386 on Climate Change and Water, Coasts and Marine Issues, annex to the White Paper on Adaptation to Climate Change.

Finally, the deadline for the partners to agree with the text of the project of statutes of Wateregio as AISBL expires next 8th June. The intention is to sign the statutes officially in the meeting of 25th June in Brussels. 8th June is also the indicative deadline for the members to express their interest to be part of the Steering Committee.

For more information, the secretariat is available at aalcolea@delcomval.be

Wateregio meeting 18th May

2009-05-15T12:00:00.001+02:00

Date: 18th May 2009. 14h30.
Venue: Valencian Regional Office in Brussels, Rue de la Loi 227, 4th Floor, B-1040 Brussels.

Provisional Agenda: (version 2, as proposed the 13th May)

Welcome.
Presentation and approval of the record of activities of Wateregio.
Information about open calls for proposals: LIFE+, Ecoinnovation, ENPI, and discussion about the projects.
Debate on statutes and constitution of Foundation.
Questionnaires of the European Commission on water scarcity and droughts.
Project CHANCE-Europeaid.
Composition of the new Steering Committee.
General open meeting during the Green Week
Other business.

This is an internal meeting of Wateregio. The network will organize an open event during the Green Week, the 24th June (date to be confirmed)

Registration: aalcolea@delcomval.be

SAVE THE DATE: 18th May, general meeting

2009-04-30T11:56:00.002+02:00

Wateregio will celebrate its general meeting next 18th May in the afternoon in Brussels.

Please, save it in your agendas.

Topics:

1. Open calls and project opportunities: Ecoinnovation, LIFE+, ENPI.
2. Project forum corner: Bring your project ideas!
3. Positions and policy papers: Open working groups, work of the European Commission.

The event will be followed by a Wateregio closed door meeting.

More information to follow via e-mail.

Project idea for ENPI call - "Water communities"

2009-04-23T14:58:00.006+02:00

Title of proposed project:

Water Communities -
Empowerment of water communities in the Mediterranean

Call: ENPI. Deadline May 2009 (pending publication).

Description:

The goal of Water Communities is to empower the local organizations of water users in different fields in order to promote public participation and democratic water management, thus improving the performance of water management and the protection of the environment.

The creation of communities of irrigators and territorial boards of water users is a pre-requisite to define proper water prices, implementation of infrastructures, training of the operators (farmers, irrigators, technicians) and responsible local water management. At the same time, these structures enhance the civil society and the local democracies. These communities are particularly important in areas where water is scarce, and especially if important wetlands or natural sites are involved. Finally, the performance of water management and better irrigations are a motor for local economic development.

These actions require the involvement of National, Regional and Local Authorities in order to facilitate and develop a proper legislative framework. There are also traditional structures such as Water consuetudinary tribunals and others, existing in Arabic countries and in Spain. These structures could be promoted and protected via this project.

The project would include:

Analysis of needs: legislative framework, state of local technologies of water management, need of infrastructures, economic development.

Definition of “hot spots” or areas of urgent action (wetlands, protected areas, water bodies in risk of overexploitation, soils in risk of salinization, etc).

Creation and empowerment of local structures of participation.

Benchmark study and exchange of best practices.

Support to next steps of improvement of water management: Use of treated urban waste water in Spain, drip irrigation and irrigation planning in other partner countries, urban water management plans and other actions to be decided by the partners.

Creation of a transnational advisory and monitoring committee, whose mission will be providing with legal, technical and scientific advice and follow-up of the actions undertaken.

Gender approach: Promotion of the participation of women in all the actions.

Dissemination activities and awareness actions.

Strategic Environmental Assessment of the actions.

Rice crops in l'Albufera, Valencia. (c) http://www.eco-rice.net/

Partner consortium (so far):

Federación de Comunidades de Regantes de la Comunitat Valenciana.
Society for the Protection of the Nature in Lebanon.

Further partners being sought
Members of Wateregio network.

Budget foreseen: 2.000.000 €. Co-funded by ERDF in EU Member States, and by ENPI in Mediterranean partner countries.

Foreseen project duration: 18 months

Contact Valencian Region:
Mr Alfonso Alcolea – aalcolea@delcomval.be
Mr José Pascual – jpascual@delcomval.be
Lebanon :
Ms Tala Al-Khatib – talakhatib@gmail.com
Ms Dalia Al-Jawhary – dalia.jawhary@gmail.com

AER Summer School 2009 on Water

2009-04-08T13:58:00.008+02:00

The Summer School of the AER will take place next 24-28 august 2009 in Valencia, Spain, organised jointly by the AER and the Fundación Comunidad Valenciana - Región Europea.

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.

The members of Wateregio are invited to participate actively via:

Proposition of speakers and activities.

Participation of politicians and young people.

Dissemination of projects in the School plaza (exhibition area).

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.

The contents of the Summer School are grouped in four pools:

• Pool 1. Water management: Regions need to provide innovative strategies to ensure safe water and sanitation for all. The workshops in this pool will tackle the problems faced by policy makers when they define plans and implement infrastructures.

• Pool 2. Water and climate change. The availability of water will change and be affected by the climate. Draughts and floods will be more severe and recurrent. This will affect not only the economy and human life, but also the ecosystems and the biodiversity. The participants will work on research, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, preserving the natural environment.

• Pool 3. Governance and communication. The social involvement is essential to manage water in a sustainable way. The participants will work on legislative and political measures, public participation, education and training, aiming to develop a new water culture in Europe.

• Horizontal workshops: The horizontal workshops will invite the participants to propose their ideas in joint projects dealing with water, global issues and co-operation, and instruments to be developed by the AER in order to promote better water management all over Europe, such as a water award and a European Regional Charter for Water.

The Summer School will gather experts from all over Europe in each of the topics, organising roundtables and dynamic workshops. The program includes also daily activities, and study visits, discovering the Valencian experience in water management

If you are interested in receiving more information, please contact jpascual@delcomval.be with your name, region and country and e-mail adress.

http://www.aer.eu/en/events/summer-school/2000-2009.html

Tragedy in Abruzzo

2009-04-07T10:30:00.005+02:00

The network Wateregio express its sorrow for the victims of the terrible earthquakes happened yesterday and today in Italy.

The Mediterranean is an area of high sysmic risk, as the History records in every country. That is why we should strenghthen our commitment to co-operate in the field of risk prevention, considering floods but also applying similar methodologies to sysmic events.

This could result in better protection for our citizens: basic research, improvement of civil protection and rapid response mechanisms, awareness of residents and authorities, and more quality of buildings can be lines of future joint projects, that would add European value to the actions currently undertaken by our National, Regional and Local Authorities.

From this modest website we express our solidarity with the Region of Abruzzo and with its citizens.

Summary of the EU conference on Water, 2-3 April 2009

2009-04-06T17:07:00.008+02:00

Notes from the EU conference on Water, held last 2nd and 3rd April:

The conference has done a review about the public participation in the draft River Basin Management Plans requested by the Water Framework Directive. Publication of the document COM (2009) 156 final, Report on art. 18.3 of the WFD on programmes of monitoring of water status.
Some questions: How to promote more and better participation? How to integrate the input of the public participation into the RBMP? Effective participation or participation pro forma?
Publication of the Communication COM (2009)147/4 White paper on adaptation to climate change.
The White paper on adaptation to climate change comes with the document SEC (2009) 386 Policy Paper on Water, Coasts and Marine issues.

Peter Gammeltoft (Head of Unit of Water, DG Environment, 2nd right) in the crossfire debate organised by Friends of Europe the 2nd April in the evening. Significant phrase: 'Prevention and combat of climate change has to do with energy and emissions; adaptation to climate change will have to do with water'.

More information:

See the speech of the Commissioner Stavros Dimas.
Website of the conference:
http://water.europa.eu/participate
Website of the Commission on adaptation to climate change:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/adaptation/index_en.htm

European Conference on Water

2009-04-02T14:52:00.008+02:00

Commissioner Dimas during his intervention.
Radio café says that he will be Commissioner again, but not for environment.

Organised by the European Commission, the conference can be followed online via the link:
http://www.ewc2009.eu

The documentation will be published in the website:
http://water.europa.eu/participate

Members of WR currently attending: Region of Murcia, Emilia Romagna and Valencian Region.

Water infoday in Istria

2009-03-24T11:42:00.006+01:00

The Istrian Region organised last 23rd April an information day on water in the framework of Wateregio. The information will be available soon in www.istra-istria.hr

The event was chaired by President of the Region, Mr Ivan Jakovčić, and counted on the presence of Mr Oriano Otočan, Regional Minister in charge of international collaboration and European integration, and Mr Juan Manuel Revuelta, General Director of the Fundación Comunidad Valenciana - Región Europea, who intervened as guest speaker.

A project forum corner in the end of the Infoday raised several project ideas in the following fields:

Possibility of TAIEX cooperation with Istrian region http://www.ec.taiex.eu/

Agriculture: Prevention of burning of agricultural waste, and valorisation as energy (IEE call).

Urban water supply: European network of cities for sustainable water consumption, including water saving and safety of drinking water in buildings.

Improving of quality of waste water that is spilled into water bodies.

Toursim: Standardization and greening processes in golf pitches.

Irrigation and other water uses: Capacity building and organizations of water users in the Mediterranean (Interreg and ENPI call).

Nature protection: Prevention of uncontrolled waste disposal and remediation of ecosystems such as wetlands and karstic caves

Nature protection: Project Eko Teens on awareness among youg people about the karstik ecosystems.

During the infoday, various topics on water in Istria were treated, together with EU programmes. The following themes were presented and discussed during the event: EU Funding strategies; European funding opportunities in the field of water (FP7, INTERREG); the INTERREG program; the FP7 program; best practices in water projects; tips for good participation in the EU water projects; support services in the field of EU programmes and cooperation activities; water Management.

From the political point of view, the network Wateregio was presented as a way to improve the participation of Mediterranean regions in EU water policy.

Contact person:

Dino Babić
Professional collaborator for the development of international projects
Department for International cooperation and EU integration
Istarska županija – Regione istriana
Region of Istria
Flanatička 29
HR-52100 Pula

Tel: +385 (0)52 372 177
Fax:+385 (0)52 372 178
www.istra-istria.hr

El proyecto U@Marenostrum, participado por la Generalitat Valenciana, fue presentado en el eParticipation Day.

2009-03-04T09:26:00.000+01:00

La Comisión Europea ha reunido en el edificio Charlemagne de Bruselas proyectos europeos que tratan de cerrar la brecha entre los ciudadanos y las instituciones europeas. La jornada eParticipation Day ha congregado a expertos europeos en participación ciudadana y sociedad de la información, con el objetivo de encontrar nuevas formas de comunicación pública a través de las tecnologías de la información.

Los ponentes instaron a los políticos y a los parlamentarios a explotar aquellas herramientas que permitan a los ciudadanos involucrarse en el proceso de toma de decisiones. Los expertos subrayaron que los ciudadanos se interesan por el proceso legislativo cuando sienten que su voz está siendo escuchada y se trata de un asunto que les afecta directamente.

Los proyectos europeos VoicE, VoiceS y U@Marenostrum, de los que forma parte la Generalitat Valenciana, han estado presentes en la exposición organizada de forma paralela a las discusiones, a las que se registraron 350 personas de 33 países. VoicE consiste en una potente herramienta de protección al consumidor, enfocada en los temas de energía, telecomunicaciones, nutrición, seguridad del juguete y observatorio del consumidor. VoiceS es la continuación de esta iniciativa, de forma que permita actualizar y mejorar la plataforma VoicE.

U@Marenostrum, aprobado en la última convocatoria del programa eParticipation, dará la oportunidad a los ciudadanos de participar en gestión de recursos hídricos y de protección medioambiental en la Rivera Francesa, la Comunitat Valenciana y las Islas Jónicas, a través de una herramienta de monitorización de la legislación comunitaria en vigor.

Para más información:

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/eparticipation/2009/index_en.htm

www.uegva.info

http://www.uatmarenostrum.eu/

Mediterranean Declaration for the World Water Forum in Istanbul

2009-02-16T12:00:00.001+01:00

Mediterranean Declaration on the European Water Vision
WORLD WATER FORUM - ISTANBUL
3rd December 2008, Castellón de la Plana, Valencian Region, Spain.

Complemented the 13th February 2009 in Evora, Portugal, by the Intermediterranean Commission of the CPRM

The European Water Vision contained in the document “Water for a Sustainable Europe – Our vision for 2030” drafted within the regional process for the World Water Forum of Istanbul, Intends to be the vision of all the Europeans and stakeholders, formulated from the point of view of the citizens and for the interest of everyone.

The Diversity is the strength of Europe, so it is necessary to complete the European Water Vision with the realities, challenges and opportunities of each of the European regions. The Political Bureau of the Intermediterranean Commission of the CPRM, gathered in Evora (Portugal) the 13th February 2009, raises the contributions and the point of view of the Mediterranean Regions to the European Water Vision.

The participants in the Mediterranean workshop held the 3rd of December in Castellón, Valencian Region (Spain), want to contribute with the Mediterranean point of view in the European Water Vision.

1. Nowhere like in the Mediterranean the water is recognized and valuated as common heritage and precious source of life, and never as a merchandise, as in the Mediterranean the water is scarce and irregular, the ecosystems are fragile and the needs and stresses on water are growing and are foreseen to increase.

2. The Water Framework Directive states that “Water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such”, defining the goal of protection of water. The implementation of the WFD faces different situations in each country, and this piece of legislation influences all EU and non-EU Member States.

3. The Mediterranean is a diverse space dealing with different politic, administrative, economic, natural and geographic realities (including islands and territories in analog situation) which makes that each region faces different priorities. Diverse conditions and needs require different solutions.

4. The predominant point is the interdependence, not only between States and Regions, but also between river basins and between the different uses given to the water inside each of them.

5. All scenarios show that the satisfaction of needs in a climate change environment can become increasingly difficult because of runoff decreases and cycle changes.

6. It is confirmed the need of having data, indicators and methodologies to compare and monitor the real situation of the water, given that the water is an essential resource and its current situation needs to be known with certainty.

7. The European basins in situation of water scarcity are mainly located in the Mediterranean. In these basins, additional water contributions need to be made through water transfers and, as the need may be, desalination. These additional supply measures can be adopted within an integrated and sustainable water planning, anticipating the solutions to adopt, considering the measures of water saving and efficiency as it is explained in the reports of the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee with regards to drought and water scarcity.

8. An integrated water management needs an integral institutional framework, with good legislation, good law enforcement, coordination and subsidiarity and improvement of the capabilities of the Public Administrations. The protection of groundwater and the integration of water issues in other policies, ensuring the horizontality to all the public Administrations, are identified as major challenges.

9. The local structures of water management for irrigation or other uses are a figure of water management specific to the Mediterranean, with historical institutions that are sometimes older than the States themselves, that may serve as example of experiences of participative and democratic management in the framework of a sustainable use of water.

10. The challenges to improve the public participation have to do mainly with legislation in some cases, better use of the technologies of information, awareness and organization of the different economic sectors to cooperate in the public decisions.

11. The specificity of the Mediterranean generates higher costs of water cycle management in all the sectors, compared with other areas of Europe. The main concerns are the quality of supplied water and the sensitivity of the most fragile sectors to the variations of water prices.

12. The Mediterranean receives flows of floating population that condition the planning of the demand and use of water. This generates additional stress on the water resources and additional costs in water supply, sanitation, treatment and protection of the water bodies that are difficult to assume by the local population. This is why the financial co-responsibility is necessary to recover the costs.

13. Regarding support technological research and innovation, the progress of water treatments and recycling, and modernization of irrigation systems are remarkable. However it is necessary to improve the access of the Mediterranean regions to funding for research and development, and for training of the different operators. The communication between economic operators to monitor and benchmark the improvements achieved, including best practices, is also necessary.

14. Although the Mediterranean citizens are increasingly aware of the water’s value, it is important to improve the education with regard to water in all the academic levels, according to each regional reality and with innovative techniques. It would be necessary to pay special attention to information and awareness to residents, tourists and people that move from one place to another.

15. Regarding to cooperation with third countries, it is necessary to pay attention to the sound water management both shores of the Mediterranean Sea, because as this is an issue that affects directly to the European coastal States.

1. Water as a common heritage

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1. We treat water as our common heritage with an economic, social, environmental and cultural value for our societies. Water is not a commodity like any other one – it’s a fragile resource which can not be replaced and we protect and preserve it for future generations to sustain our societies, our economies and the environment. Water sustainability is crucial for us.

2. Universal access to water and good state of ecosystems

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2. Water is an essential human need and we recognize the access to basic water supply and sanitation as a human right. The people in Europe have universal access to safe, effective and affordable water and sanitation services. At the same time we are able to satisfy the other human water needs – for businesses, industry, agriculture and recreation and have achieved a balance with needs of the environment also with regard to sustain biodiversity. We can rely on essential ecosystem services from our healthy rivers, lakes, coastal waters and wetlands and our people can also enjoy high quality rivers, lakes and coastal waters for ecologic and recreational purposes.

3. River basin management

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3. We manage our water resources sustainable within river basins across political boundaries including transboundary waters and we apply an integrated adaptive water management approach. All the stakeholders including all inhabitants in the basin participate actively in the management decision process. We apply a preventive approach, which integrates quality and quantity as well as surface water, groundwater and coastal waters. We have adopted and implemented ambitious legislation such as the Water Framework Directive and other related legislation and made other policy areas such as agriculture, regional, industrial, trade, transport and energy policy ´water sensitive´.

4. Public participation in water

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4. We have achieved a true ´water democracy´ where we apply the principles of transparency, integrity, solidarity and equity and where all people and stakeholders are aware of their rights and responsibilities. Our well informed people use their freedom of choice wisely - what they drink and how they use water - and use their opportunity to participate actively in the governance of water management and services. The people have a say in the quality and organization of their services and our services are efficient and sensitive to environmental and social needs.

5. Integrate supply and demand

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5. We have jointly achieved a culture where water resources are not wasted, spoiled or overused. We have actively pushed a paradigm shift from supply driven water management to an integrated supply and demand driven approach as well as from an end of pipe to a preventive approach. We are able to satisfy most of our needs with water resources within the same river basin.

6. Culture of water saving & water footprint

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6. We have achieved a change of mindset, attitude and practices through raising water awareness and the application of appropriate instruments and incentives. Proven sustainable water practices, pricing and charging policies, transparency about water footprints of individual, industrial, agricultural and local authorities’ practices and of products have been useful instruments in achieving a modern water efficient society.

7. Price of water

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7. Water services have a price. We pay for services and for the uses and our pricing policies are guided by transparency, sustainability, efficiency as well as a social and environmental approach. We use water pricing and other economic instruments to achieve sustainable water use.

8. Climate change, floods and droughts

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8. We are coping with the challenges of climate change and with natural phenomena such as floods and droughts as we are continuously improving our adaptive, integrated management approach and we adapted our infrastructure and practices. Our infrastructure is planned, constructed, operated and maintained in an efficient and environmental and social acceptable manner based on a long-term perspective.

9. Water technology and irrigation systems

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9. We apply appropriate technologies and have thereby continuously improved our water efficiency and minimized pollution to a level which is negligible with regard to human and environmental health. Communities, agriculture and industry enjoy the economic and social benefits of a high level of water productivity by applying recycling technologies, closed production cycles and efficient irrigation techniques and other technologies. We promote and conduct research and development to continuously improve our know how on adaptive integrated management and innovative technological solutions and have achieved a fast track to bring those technologies to the markets.

10. Water and development

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10. Europe is a responsible partner in the world that actively promotes and supports the achievement of sustainable water management and universal access to water supply and sanitation in all countries. We have understood that sustainable water management is key to peace and security and to eradicate poverty and have made water a priority of our foreign and development policy. Our trade and economic policies have integrated water issues and we have significantly reduced our global water footprint to a level that is sustainable.