A workshop on transboundary flood risk management was organized on 22 and 23 April 2009 within the framework of the programme of work of the UNECE Water Convention, under the joint leadership of the Government of Germany, the Government of the Netherlands and in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organisation.

Background:

Extreme flood events and especially the economic, social and environmental as well as human life losses they cause have significantly increased during the last years in the UNECE region. At the same time, flood prone areas represent vital assets to the economy of many members of the region that can and should not be abandoned. Due to the transboundary nature of many rivers in the region, flooding often has transboundary consequences and thus cooperation is required.

For this reason, under the Water Convention, Guidelines on Sustainable Flood Prevention were adopted in 2000 and subsequently Model Provisions on Transboundary Flood Management were adopted in 2006. The fourth meeting of the Parties to the Water Convention in 2006 created a new Water and Climate Task Force which was entrusted with activities in two main areas of work: transboundary flood management and water and climate change adaptation. In the area of transboundary flood management, the Task Force should support the transfer of the experience and results of the European Network of Expertise on Flood Risk Management to non-European Union countries. To this aim, the workshop on transboundary flood risk management is organized.

Objectives:

• exchange experiences and support the transfer of results from research projects and other recent activities concerning flood management in the European Union to non-EU countries, e.g. the work of the European exchange circle on flood forecasting (EXCIFF), the European exchange circle on flood mapping (EXCIMAP) and the EU Working Group on Floods;

• provide a platform for exchange of positive and negative experiences and lessons learned by Parties that have developed flood risk management plans taking into account the transboundary context and those which are currently developing or planning to develop such programmes;

• analyse in depth flood management problems in a limited number of transboundary basins in the UNECE region and provide recommendations for improving transboundary cooperation regarding flood risk management in these basins.

Documents and presentations from the workshop are available in the table below.

Documents
Information notice		eng	rus
List of participants		eng
Provisional programme		eng	rus
Discussion paper		eng	rus
Report		eng
Background documents
UNECE Guidelines on Sustainable Flood Prevention, 2000		eng	rus
UNECE Model Provisions on Transboundary Flood Management, 2006		eng	rus
Presentations
Session 1: Setting the scene: new concepts and rules for flood risk management
Transboundary Flood risk management and the UNECE Water Convention, Ms. Sonja Koeppel, UNECE Water Convention Secretariat		eng
Flood Management Policy and Sustainable Development: recognizing development needs and managing risk, Mr. Tyagi, Director, Climate and Water Department, WMO		eng
The European Exchange Circle on Flood Mapping EXCIMAP, Mr. Loat, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, Switzerland		eng
European Exchange Circle on flood forecasting EXCIFF and the European Floos Alert system EFAS, Mr. Add de Roo, Joint Research Centre JRC		eng
EU Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks and the EU White Paper: Adapting to Climate Change: Towards a European Framework for Action, Ms. Meike Gierk, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Germany		eng
Flood awareness and public information, Ms. Silvia García Wolfrum, Ministry for the Environment, Spain/ Germany		eng
SESSION 2: Joint flood forecasting and warning/ exchange of data: Case studies
RIVERS IN TRANSCARPATHIA, Mr. Babich, State Water Committee, Ukraine
RIVER MERIC, Mr. Sezen, DSI, Turkey		article
Flood risk management in Greece, Ms. Artemis Papapetrou, Hellenic National Meteorological Service, Greece		eng
Flood risk management in Central Asia, Ms. Dergachevna, Uzbekistan			rus
SESSION 3: Joint flood risk management planning and implementation: Case studies
RIVER KURA, Mr. Mammadov, Azerbaijan Geographical Society, Azerbaijan		engarticle
Transboundary flood risk management iin the Sava river basin - present status and future needs -Ms. Babic-Mladenovic, Institute Jaroslav Cerni, Serbia		eng
Transboundary cooperation in the flood forecasting and warning service within the international Morava river basin, Ms. Soukalová, Czech Hydrometeteorological Institute, Czech Republic		eng
RIVER VUOKSI, Mr. Ollila, Finnish Environment Institute, Finland		eng
Session 4: Institutional and legal arrangements for cooperation: Case studies
Floods on Dniester River: events and lessons learnt, Mr. Trombitsky, Eco-Tiras, Republic of Moldova		eng
COOPERATION WITH UKRAINE, Mr. Bakonyi, Vituki / Mr. Magyarics, Central Directorate of Water and Environment, Hungary		eng
RIVER ELBE, Mr. Kubát/Ms Soukalová, Czech Hydrometeteorological Institute, Czech Republic		eng
SESSION 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
Preliminary workshop conclusions		eng
Other documents
Article on the flood workshop		eng
Information on Kalypso Open Source Software for modelling		eng