Europe Public Participation and Information Management Workshop

The Workshop on information management and public participation in transboundary water cooperation was held in St. Petersburg on 8–10 June 2005. The workshop was prepared through UNECE Water Convention in cooperation with the Center for Transboundary Cooperation – St.Petersburg and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW:LEARN). IW:LEARN, the World Bank Institute and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency funded the workshop.

Workshop Conclusions
Workshop Evaluation
Participant List

Link to additional information and references on the UNECE website.

Workshop Objectives

The workshop had two main themes. The first was information management for transboundary water cooperation, including information needs for integrated management, information exchange between different actors involved and information utilization for decision–making and for stakeholders’ information. The second theme was public participation, including methods for its development, stakeholders identification and involvement in decision–making information management and public participation.

Participants exchanged experience on information managment and public participation on transboundary waters in the EECCA region, assessed the progress and challenges in these fields, and made recommendations, at the regional, national, local and river basin level. Furthermore they identified major challenges in the region and possible solutions.

Agenda

TUESDAY 7 JUNE

	Arrival in St. Petersburg and transfer to Hotel Pribaltijskaya
19.00 – 21.00	Dinner at the hotel.

WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE

09.00 – 09.30	Registration
09.30 – 10.00	Opening and introduction to the workshop Chairpersons until the first coffee-break: Mr. Dann Sklarew and Mr. Bo Libert Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, World Bank Institute, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia Mr. Bo Libert, UNECE, “CWC project objective and outcome of the first workshop on the legal basis for transboundary water cooperation” Mr. Dann Sklarew, IW:LEARN, “Application of information management and public participation in GEF International Waters projects”
10.00 – 11.15	Session 1. Finnish-Russian and Estonian-Russian cooperation in the region Ms. Valentina Plyukhina, Federal Agency of Water Resources, “Experience of the Finnish-Russian cooperation over more than 40 years” Mr Harry Liiv, Estonian member of the Estonian-Russian Commission, “Lake Peipsi/River Narva basin – working together on the new Eastern border of the EU” Sirkka Haunia, Finnish Environment Institute, “Trends in information exchange in the Finnish-Russian cooperation”
11.15 – 11.30	Coffee-break
11.30 – 13.00	Session 2. Information management in transboundary water cooperation Chairperson: Mr Nadim Kazibekov, Azerbaijan Ms. Francesca Bernardini, UNECE, “Information and transboundary cooperation – challenges and responses” Ms. Marianna Bolshakova, Aarhus Convention secretariat, “Information obligations arising from the Aarhus Convention and its protocol” Mr. Jos Timmerman, Dutch Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment, “Tailor- made information in transboundary water management” Ms. Malgorzata Lansberg, Polish Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, and Mr. Vladimir Korneev, Belarus Central Research Institute of Complex Use of Water Resources, “Information as a basis to establish transboundary cooperation: the experience of the Bug pilot project” Mr. Sergey Myagkov, Deputy General Director of Uzbekistan Hydromet, “Hydrological information exchange in Central Asia” Mr. Yuriy Nabivanets, Ukraine Hydromet Institute, “Interstate Dnipro Basin Environmental Data Base”
13.00 – 14.00	Lunch
14.00 – 16.00	Working groups on information management and exchange Participants will be divided in four groups, each focusing on specific river basins selected as case study (Dniester, Daugava and Nemunas, Syr Darya and Amu Darya, and Kura). For each river basin, the current information management and exchange will be reviewed and, on the basis of the experience of the group members, practical recommendations on the way forward will be formulated.
16.00 – 16.15	Coffee-break
16.15 – 18.00	Session 3. Tools for information management Chairperson: Mr Evgenyi Tyrtyshnii, Kazakhstan Mr Valentin Yemelin, UNEP-GRID-Arendal, “GIS and their use in integrated water resources management” Mr. Iskander Beglov, Scientific Information Centre - Interstate Coordination Water Commission, “Using web technology: the Information Portal for Water and Environmental Issues in Central Asia” Mr. Tim Hannan, UNDP, “Basin Water Information Centers in Kazakhstan” Mr. Volodomyr Chipak, Zakarpathian Water Management Department, “Automatic information and measuring system in the Tisza river”
19.00 – 20.00	Dinner

THURSDAY 9 JUNE

09.30 – 10.00	Presentations of the working groups results on information management and exchange
10.00 – 11.00	Session 4. The public in transboundary water management – its role and impact Chairperson: Ms. Natalia Zakorchevna, Ukraine Mrs. Natalia Alexeeva, CTC – St. Petersburg, “Public participation in transboundary water management: trends in the EECCA” Ms. Marianna Bolshakova, Aarhus Convention secretariat, “The Aarhus Convention as a legal basis for public participation activities” Ms. Elena Dronova, UNDP-GEF Dnipro Basin Environment Program and Mr. Anatoliy Shvetsov, Belarus NGO “Ecodom”, “Partnership with NGOs”
11.00 – 11.15	Coffee-Break
11.15 – 13.00	Panel on public participation and stakeholders involvement in (transboundary) water management The panel will be composed of different transboundary water stakeholders (representatives of national authorities, NGOs and private sector) who will discuss aspects of public participation, e.g. legal and economic aspects, institutional arrangements, education and awareness raising, problems encountered and results achieved, from their specific perspectives. A general discussion will follow.
13.00 – 14.00	Lunch
14.00 – 16.00	Session 5. Public participation tools and methods used in transboundary water management Chairperson: Mr. Harry Liiv, Estonia Mrs. Ulzhan Kanzhigalina, Zhalgas, “Public participation experience in Central Asia: experience from the Chu Talas basin” [Russian] Mrs. Kristina Veidemane, BEF, “Baltic States: Participatory approaches towards environmental management” Ms. Kati Kangur, CTC Peipsi, “Innovative methods for public involvement in water management decision making: Focus groups, citizen's juries and open space method” Ms. Jasmine Bachmann, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, “Public participation in the Danube Basin: approaches, activities, challenges” Ms. Mary Matthews and Ms. Melina Seyfollahzadeh, Caspian Environment Programme, “Stakeholder analysis and public participation strategy: the lessons learned from the Caspian Environment Programme”
16.00 – 20.00	Boat-excursion on the Neva River and dinner.

FRIDAY 10 JUNE

09.30 – 11.15	Working groups on public participation Participants will be divided in four groups, each focusing on a specific river basin selected as case study. For each river basin, the public participation and stakeholders involvement will be reviewed and, on the basis of the experience of the group members, practical recommendations on the way forward will be formulated.
11.15 – 12.00	Presentations of the working groups results on public participation
12.00 – 12.15	Coffee-break
12.15 – 13.30	Closing the seminar Chairpersons: Ms. Francesca Bernardini and Mr. Dann Sklarew Conclusions from the presentations and working groups work Recommendations of the seminar Ms. Francesca Bernardini, UNECE, “Next stop Tbilisi” Dr. Dann Sklarew, IW:LEARN, “Next stop Salvador”

Additional References

• Background paper on information management in transboundary water cooperation       English
  
• Background paper on public participation in transboundary water cooperation     English
  
• UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes     English, Russian
• Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters     English, Russian
• The role and use of information in transboundary water management, Susanna Nilsson, Royal Institute of Technology     English
  
• Short guidebook for the production of popular state-of-environment report on the web, UNEP/GRID–Arendal     English, Russian