International Waters learning Exchange & Resource Network

Good Practices in International Freshwater Governance Workshop

03-04 Nov 2018, Marrakesh
This workshop will take place at the The Water Museum.

Saturday 3 November 2018

Day One – Facing the Complexities of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus

Opening 
0900-0910
 

Welcome and Overview of the Two Learning Tracks

Speaker: Astrid Hillers, Global Environment Facility

(Day One) - Facing the Complexities of the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus

(Day Two) - Enhancing Transboundary Basin Management

Session 1: Understanding the Nexus
0910-1030

The Nexus Game

Coordinators: Simon Langan and Piotr Magnuszewski, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Objectives

The Nexus Game will give participants a unique opportunity to get an insight into challenges of water management for energy and food production, while sustaining environmental flows. The aim of the game is thus to provide an opportunity for practicing how different water management policies can lead to sustainable development of society in harmony with nature. Participants will strive to address water needs of population, industry and agriculture, at the same time facing challenges of climate change. The game is designed to demonstrate many interconnected Water-Food-Energy Nexus challenges.

The players take on the roles of policymakers in two countries that have access to the same river. They have to match the increasing water demand with adequate supply. In order to achieve this goal, effective collaboration and information exchange must be established between stakeholders both within and across the borders. Since the goals of both countries overlap, the game provides an opportunity for practicing conflict resolution and cooperation at the international level.

The Nexus Game provides players with a strategic overview of interconnections between water and energy in the context of security and sustainability at the transboundary level.

Outputs

  • Participants learn how to balance increasing water demand and solve water-supply conflicts between different sectors and countries
  • Participants discover and exploit the potential of innovative technologies for increasing energy and water use efficiency
  • Participants experience challenges connected with transitions in complex systems where multiple stakeholders’ interests collide
  • Participants practice collaboration among various organizations and groups of interest whose individual and collective goals differ

1030-1100
Coffee Break

1100-1300
The Nexus Game (Continued)

Coordinators: Simon Langan and Piotr Magnuszewski, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

1300-1430
Lunch

Session 2: Nexus Assessment Tools in Action

Nexus Assessment Tools

Coordinators: Annukka Lipponen, UNECE; Simon Langan and Piotr Magnuszewski, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Every transboundary river basin or aquifer presents specific management-related challenges, and creating a coordinated response to various pressures from competing uses is far beyond the scope of water management alone. After the Nexus Game has familiarized the participants with some aspects of the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus with and across countries, Session 2 seeks to broaden the consideration of inter-sectoral dynamics to also include impacts of sectoral policies on shared waters and the benefits of coordinated and/or cooperative response actions. A “nexus approach” to managing interlinked resources has become recognized for its potential to enhance the closely interlinked aspects of water, energy and food security by increasing efficiency, reducing trade-offs, building synergies and improving governance, while also protecting ecosystems. Applying such thinking in an informed way requires a breath of data, tools, participation and partnerships, extending beyond water management.

Objectives

  • Share experiences from different approaches to assess nexus issues in transboundary basins, including present and future competing water demands and impacts across sectors and borders;
  • Discuss how these assessments can aid in the TDA and SAP formulation and implementation process and how nexus issues can inform the design of legal and institutional frameworks for cooperation; and 
  • Provide participants with access to resources/tools and opportunities for further access resource persons throughout the conference. 

Outputs

  • Experience shared by different GEF Agencies, partners and governments about assessing and addressing nexus issues.
  • Strengthened awareness among the participants about some analytical frameworks and quantification tools that can be helpful for studying inter-sectoral issues in transboundary settings.
  • Insights from the participants about how the use of such tools can reinforce the TDA and root causes for resource pressures in transboundary basins as well as assist the SAP formulation and implementation process; 
  • Better sense about the value of a nexus approach for achieving resource security and to address economic sectoral drivers
  • Increased appreciation for engaging all relevant stakeholders across sectors in the formulation and prioritization of strategic actions in shared basins.

Outcomes

  • The participants will have an improved understanding of complex nexus (inter-sectoral) issues in transboundary river basins and aquifers, and better able to identify ways to address them, what kind of tools are available to that end and how a nexus approach might be applied in the basin they work on.

1430-1530
Presentations

Water Convention’s approach to and practical experience from assessment of the water-food-energy-ecosystems nexus in transboundary basins

Annukka Lipponen, secretariat of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, UNECE

Questions and answers

IIASA – Integrated Solutions for Water, Land and Energy (ISWEL): stakeholder driven scenario development, capacity building and nexus scenario modeling

Simon Langan, IIASA

Questions and answers

Introduction to Roundtable Discussion 

Susanne Schmeier, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

1530-1600
Coffee Break

1600-1700
Roundtable Discussions

After a brief introduction, discuss in groups nexus dimensions in “your basin” and experiences from assessing opportunities and challenges from balancing competing sector and transboundary demands. Below are overall guiding questions for this discussion:

  • How can such assessments help? What scope and complexity of assessment can help at different stages of cooperation?
  • Who should be involved and at what scale? 
  • How to sustain this knowledge and domesticate and sustain such assessment tools at local, national and/or regional levels? 
  • Bridging the technical to policy divide through the TDA and SAP process – how can sectoral and inter-sectoral/nexus opportunities across borders support the cooperation agenda?
  • How to broaden the engagement of ministries and actors beyond water (incl. government and private sector) in the transboundary dialogue and SAP formulation and implementation

Facilitator: Susanne Schmeier, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

In groups, participants will discuss dimensions in “your basin,” and experiences from assessing opportunities and challenges from balancing competing sector and transboundary demands. 

1700-1730
Roundtable Reporting Back

From each group, the designated rapporteur reports back about the discussion

Facilitator: Susanne Schmeier, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education

1800-1900
Social/Mingle

Location: Adam Park Hotel

Sunday 4 November 2018

Day Two – Enhancing Transboundary Basin Management

Opening
0900-0905

Recap and Day 2 Overview 

Speaker: Astrid Hillers, Global Environment Facility

Session 3: Legal and Institutional Frameworks
0905-1030

Legal and Institutional Frameworks

Coordinators:Ivan Zavadsky and Helene Masliah-Gilkarov, ICPDR

In just 20 years, the ICPDR has become a global role model for the transboundary management of shared river basins around the world. Since it was established in 1998 by the Danube River Protection Convention, the ICPDR has served its member countries as a highly successful platform for the integrated management of water resources across the Danube River Basin. It has enabled countries to work together to assess the health of the Danube river and develop basin wide plans to address priority issues such as pollution, climate change, flooding, impact of hydropower generation and navigation. The ICPDR serves as a vital learning hub and platform for the exchange of experiences and innovation between countries facing vastly different economic and environmental challenges.  

Objectives

During the session, the participants working on projects in shared river basins and aquifers will be provided with information to provide a case-study analysis and replicable examples in order to: 

  • Identify commonalities in challenges in successful projects;
  • Identify solutions that work (based on the Danube River Basin context but also applicable beyond); 
  • Learn from shared lessons.

Outputs

The workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of the area of transboundary cooperation and shared water system management the Commission covers with specific focus on the following aspects which the participants will approach in an interactive setting of comparative analysis of other RBOs (i.e. Mekong): 

  • The key attributes of an international RBO from a legal and institutional perspective, i.e. the minimum institutional requirements needed and the minimum required framework for cooperation; and the key challenges for establishing a transboundary RBO and to sustain cooperation with/among the participating countries, 
  • Financing the Commission activities, i.e. setting-up financing mechanisms, designing budgets and contribution types and schemes.  
  • The challenges in rallying public opinion to get the necessary political support for setting-up and operating successful RBO, i.e.: communication and public participation aspects of the cooperation. 

Outcomes

At the end of the first part of Session 4, the participants will have gained a comprehensive overview of the area of transboundary cooperation in the Danube River Basin, which the ICPDR covers. They will expand their knowledge and skills to set-up and improve the institutional framework of their institutions.

1030-1100
Coffee Break

1100-1230
Legal and Institutional Frameworks

The RBO Game  

Coordinators:Ivan Zavadsky and Helene Masliah-Gilkarov, ICPDR

The participants will reconvene for wrap up and reporting following the session. They will then move to the more interactive part of the workshop with the RBO Game, providing them with a structure of facilitated activities in game format for them to work together to explore problems and solutions. 

The players will take on the roles of policymakers in ten countries that share the same river basin. They have to create the necessary setup to answer match the increasing multiple water uses. In order to achieve this goal, effective collaboration and information exchange must be established between stakeholders both within and across the borders. Since the goals of participating countries overlap, the game provides an opportunity for practicing the search for solutions and cooperation at international level.

The RBO Gamewill give participants a unique opportunity to get an insight into challenges of water resources management on transboundary level, building on the first part of the workshop. The aim of the game is thus to provide an opportunity for creating a fictive RBO based on their understanding of the needs of countries in a given river basin, focusing on specificities, commonalities and challenges, from legal, institutional and financial viewpoints but also in the current setup of a changing climate. 

The game approach will allow the participants to work in an interactive setup with a structured set of facilitated activities for all participants to work together to explore problems and solutions while creating the institutional setup for an RBO.

1230-1400
Lunch

Session 4: Conjunctive Management
1400-1415

Progress on Transboundary Water Cooperation 2018 - Global Baseline for SDG Indicator 6.5.2: Process – Outcomes – Next Steps

Presenters: Annukka Lipponen, UNECE and Alice Aureli, UNESCO-IHP

As the only target in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that makes explicit reference to transboundary cooperation, target 6.5 can play a catalytic role across multiple SDGs and targets.  It can generate multiple benefits for the protection of human health, renewable energy provision, sustainable agriculture, climate adaptation, ecosystem protection, and peace and security.

This segment will present the results of the initial reporting exercise carried out in 2017-2018 on indicator 6.5.2 for which UNECE and UNESCO are the co-custodians. This exercise provides valuable insights into the progress achieved in establishing operational arrangements for transboundary waters, and the gaps that remain; and highlights that an acceleration in strengthening transboundary water cooperation is urgently needed to be able to face growing water challenges and prevent conflicts on water use.

1415-1545
Conjunctive Water Resources Management: Experience Sharing and Diagnostic

Coordinator:Aurélien Dumont and Alice Aureli, UNESCO-IHP

Rivers and aquifers, together with the ecosystems they host, are increasingly approached as asingle system. However, integrated actions for their joint management are still rare. For instance, many transboundary river basin agreements and plans fail to recognize the interaction between groundwater and surface water, and lack provisions regarding groundwater.

UNESCO-IHP is actively promoting the full consideration of groundwater within transboundary resources management. On this basis, the session will mobilize the concept of conjunctive water resources management to look at how to increase the generation of services from the river-aquifer (eco)system. Inspiring approaches will be shared, including examples covering institutional and legal aspects, such as the recent establishment of a mechanism to include groundwater management into the governance structure of a River Basin Organization.

Objectives

  • The session will explore the concept of ‘conjunctive water resources management’, looking at: (1) critical actions to manage the continuum between groundwater and surface water; (2) the generation of multiple benefits based on the optimization of water resources development; (3) the institutional and legal setting as a cross-cutting issue. Examples from and out the GEF groundwater portfolio will illustrate these approaches, in multiple context, including the coastal zone.
  • Through a diagnostic form and group work, participants will be invited to identify their existing engagement, gaps and needs related to conjunctive water resources management and to exchange about experiences.

Outputs

  • Knowledge gained by the participants about the concept of conjunctive water resources management and example of actions for its implementation, including legal and institutional aspects;
  • A compilation of current experiences, gaps and needs for the implementation of conjunctive management in the GEF IW freshwater portfolio.

Outcomes

  • GEF IW freshwater community increased awareness and better capacity to identify options for conjunctive water resources management and improved benefits generated by the river-aquifer (eco)system.

1545-1600
Workshop Key Messages and Takeaways