World Water Forum 5th, Topic Sessions Proposal- Topic 3.1: "Basin Management and Trans-boundary Cooperation"

The 5^th World Water Forum will take place in Istanbul from 16 to 22 March 2009. It is a major event not to be missed!

A lot of key topics will be discussed during the Forum.

The 5th World Water Forum International Steering Committee (ISC) has confirmed INBO(International Network of Basin Organizations) and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), jointly, as coordinators for Topic 3.1, “Basin management and transboundary cooperation”.

The ISC remember you the following:

·        Sessions should aim to provide concrete solutions to key questions on non-consensual subjects, raise awareness on new solutions or developments or give the opportunity to discuss issues in order to provide greater consensus.

·        Sessions should favour exchange (panels, debates, questions and answers and interactive formats) rather than provide static presentations.

·        Sessions must include different perspectives and associate various stakeholders.

·        Session descriptions should not be elaborate nor detailed, since room should be left for further development as offers of contributions from the wider community are received (through Sept. 30^th). Efforts should be made to integrate as many of these proposed contributions as possible.

·        A virtual platform for thematic development will be at our disposal to facilitate development processes (document creation with versioning, discussion groups, wiki tools, etc.). Topic Coordinators are responsible for managing these virtual spaces. More detailed information will be sent to you on this issue soon.

During the second Thematic and Regional Coordinators Meeting (Istanbul, February 2008), we proposed to focus our proposals for Topic 3.1 sessions on the four following questions:

 1.      What are the success and failures stories of hydro solidarity and IWRM at basin level?

2.      How can transboundary water resources be managed more sustainably by all the riparian countries concerned?

3.      How to organize and enable stakeholders’ participation?

4.      What are the tools to be used for better basin management and transboundary cooperation over surface and ground water?

 ·        EUROPE-INBO session, during the International Symposium Management of water-related extreme phenomena, ECWATECH in Moscow, Russia from 04 to 06 June 2008;

·        4^th International   Conference on River Restoration, in Venice, Italy, from 16 to 21 June 2008;

·        International Water Exhibition Water Tribune, in Saragossa, Spain, from  07 to 10 July 2008 - Thematic Week 4 – INBO-MENBO-EWP Session: "basin management and transboundary cooperation in Europe and the Mediterranean", on July the 8^th,

·        UNESCO-PCCP Consultation Process on the Mono River, Lomé, Togo, from 16 to 18 July 2008;

·        UN Water seminar on transboundary water resources at the Stockholm Water Week, in August 2008;

·        UNESCO-PCCP Consultation Process on the Ostua Metapan Aquifer, Guatemala, from 26 to 28 August 2008;

·        IWRA General Assembly, session on Transboundary Water Management, in Montpellier, France, from 01 to 03 September 2008;

·        IWA Symposium on River Basins, in Budapest, Hungary, from 04 to 06 September 2008;

·        General Assembly UN October-November 2008

·        Europe-INBO 2008, session on the implementation of WFD, in Sibiu, Romania, from 02 to 04 October 2008, “Floods management, groundwater management and draught management in basin context”;

·        IVth  International Symposium on Transboundary Waters Management, in Thessaloniki, Greece from 15th - 18th October 2008,

·        6^th Workshop on ISARM Americas, Dominican Republic, November 2008

·        Latin America Network of Basin Organisations General Assembly, in Rio Janeiro, Brazil, from 19 to 21 November 2008, with a session with the Organisation of America States.