Capacity Building Workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management

The Workshop on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) was held on November 25-27, 2008, in Skhodra (Albania). The workshop focused on possibilities of application of the IWRM approach in the basins of Shkodra lake and the Drim (Drin) and Bojana (Buna) rivers.The workshop was organized by the Global Water Partnership Mediterranean (GWP-Med), within the program of activities of the »Petersberg Phase II / Athens Declaration« process. About 40 participants – representatives of governmental and non-governmental sectors of the concerned countries, gathered at the workshop. The primary aim of the meeting was to inform the participants on the IWRM approach and relevant case studies from the region, in order to support the process of establishment of joint bodies (commissions) to deal with the IWRM in these basins.

Upon invitation of the organizer, Dr Dejan Komatina, Secretary of the Sava Commission, delivered a presentation on experiences from the Sava river basin, related to the IWRM. The presentation served as a key example and basis for the practical part of the workshop, where the participants were supposed to develop a preliminary structure of an IWRM plan for the Shkodra, Drim and Bojana basins.

On the margins of the workshop, representatives of GWP-Med and the Sava Commission discussed the issue of future cooperation, especially the involvement of GWP-Med in the Sava Commission activities planned for the next year.