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What it is?
Welcome to the Danube Network. The Network concentrates on gathering experience and good practice examples on NWRM in the Danube River Basin. It is intended to foster knowledge dissemination and exchange at the various levels of stakeholders so as to promote their implementation in the following RBMPs and FRMPs.
The Danube Network consists of all EU countries sharing the Danube River Basin – Germany, Austria, Check Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria. In addition, having in mind that around 23% of the Danube River Basin belongs to the five non EU Member States that committed themselves to implement the WFD within the frame of the Danube River Protection Convention (DRPC), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova will also be invited to participate in the Danube Network.
Why a regional discussion forum?
Although the Danube countries present different economic, cultural and historical facets, the countries are interconnected by the Danube River and today, more than ever, are facing common challenges. They have a rich but very vulnerable environment, and big potential for water quantity and quality protection. At the same time, some of the countries enjoy economic growth but all are committed to further development. Together, within the framework of the International Commission for the Protection of The Danube River (ICPDR), the Danube countries have developed the 1st DRBM Plan entailing measures of basin-wide importance as well as setting the framework for more detailed plans at the sub-basin and/or national level. Currently, the counties are elaborating the 2013 Update of the Danube Basin Analysis as a preparatory step for the 2nd DRBM Plan due by December 2015
This regional discussion Forum is to ensure regional presence and to promote measures that use or mimic natural processes with direct impacts on hydrology, water retention and ecosystems protection. It will help to improve common understanding of the effectiveness, costs and benefits of those measure that are aimed to provide a ‘natural’ flood management, contribute to sustainable water resource management and enhance the provision of ecosystems services, including forestry measures, sustainable agriculture practices, sustainable drainage systems with a focus on urban areas but also partially applicable to other land uses, and measures that focus on increasing the storage in catchment and alongside. Many of these measures are already included in the Joint Programme of Measures and implemented at national levels to assist with water and land use management, and through this forum we aim to bring together all stakeholders to contribute to the overall benefits that could be achieved by extensive, coordinated implementation of NWRM across the Danube Region and its neighbourhood.
How to contribute?
We encourage all stakeholders to join the Danube Network on this platform regularly and to share their knowledge, views and opinions on theoretical as well as on practical implementation issues related to NWRM. Please, feel free to pose challenging questions and we will jointly seek how to answer them.
