10 February 2011: Hungary’s Ministry of Rural Development, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the International Water Assessment Centre (IWAC) organized a workshop on transboundary water cooperation in Central and Western Europe, in Budapest, Hungary, from 8-10 February 2011.

The workshop was organized in the framework of the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), and gathered over 50 experts from national authorities, river basin commissions, international organizations and NGOs. Participants discussed threats to the region’s water resources and aquatic ecosystems, such as pollution from agriculture and urban areas, growing water scarcity, floods, and physical modifications. The workshop was also part of the preparations of the second Assessment of Transboundary Rivers, Lakes and Groundwaters, currently being developed under the Water Convention for the Seventh “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference, to be held from 21-23 September 2011, in Astana, Kazakhstan. The assessment aims to report on the status of all transboundary waters in the region, highlighting, inter alia, the impacts of and adaptation to climate change. [UNECE Press Release]