Participants & Projects Involved (IWL Share: 50% of first two targeted workshops, leveraged six more)

• Participants included stakeholders of three transboundary lakes in the Western Balkans - Prespa, Ohrid and Shkodra/Skadar, including in particular the active GEF projects that exist on the first and latter of those lakes.

Host Institution

• Montenegro Ministry of Tourism and Environment with facilitation and adminsitration via the Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean Office

Other Funding Partners

• European Commission (via the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture, and Sustainable Development), UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan

Introduction, Purpose: Why an Exchange

The exchange of practical experience and knowledge between managers and decision-makers as well as stakeholders in the different shared bodies has been limited. The need to address this challenge has been made also obvious in the activities organized within the Petersberg Phase II / Athens Declaration Process.

Based on this, a series of targeted capacity building workshops will focus on experiences and methodologies for addressing specific issues of transboundary water resource management. They are expected to leverage the varying levels of practical knowledge in the area, facilitiating the cross-fertilization between stakeholders of the different shared basins as well as introduce knowledge and experience from outside the region.

The aim is to enhance the practical capacity of stakeholders on specific issues of integrated management of their shared water bodies.

Learning Objectives

• To understand the conceptual framework for public participation in shared water resources management at different levels: international, national, and local
• To be informed about the legal frameworks for public participation at international level
• To get familiar with the various involvement strategies and tools that may be used in the different steps within a stakeholders involvement process
• To learn the steps of a stakeholders involvement process*
• To identify ways of integrating the different tools and techniques into IWRM at nationaland transboundary level
• To learn how to prepare a stakeholders involvement plan
• To identify peers in region who can work with in addressing issues of TWRM in the future
• To appreciate the importance of public participation and its benefits to the IWRM and to their work.

Outputs/Outcomes

1. Report from the Targeted Workshop
2. All Presentations and Background Materials at the Transboundary Waters Information Exchange Network for SE Europe

Related content

Integrated Management of Shared Lake Basins Twinning

Report: Stakeholder Involvement in Transboundary Water Resources Management

Integrated Water Resources Management Workshop

DRIN Basin - PIF

Capacity Building Workshop on “Integrated Water Resources Management, 25-27 November 2008, Shkodra, Albania

First Meeting Water Expert GroupUnion for the Mediterranean, 7-8 September 2009 Athens, Greece

Inception Meeting of the Working Group on Shared Water Resources Management