"EUROPE-INBO 2010" and International Conference on Water in Mountains Mégève 2010: “New water governance in mountains is needed to face climate change!”

The eighth European “EUROPE-INBO” Conference, organized by the « Group of European Basin Organizations for the Implementation of the Water Framework Directive », took place, at the invitation of the French Water Agencies, on 22, 23 and 24 September in MEGEVE – France, within the International Congress on Water in Mountains.

The work of the 8th International “EUROPE-INBO 2010 Conference” in Megève was organized around six successive round tables which allowed dealing with the following problems:- Progress made in the preparation of the WFD Management Plans: their contents, followupmethods (indicators, management charts…),- The Programs of Measures 2010 - 2015, implementation, stakeholders’ mobilization, localcontracts, financing of actions,- Combined implementation of the WFD and « groundwater », « floods » and « marinestrategy » Directives,- Strategies for prevention of drought risks in Europe: national strategies, monitoring,warning systems,- Measures to be planned for adapting Water Bodies to the effects of climate change,resources management, development of upper basins, upstream–downstream common cause, optimization of the water demands, agricultural policy, hydropower, navigation onwaterways, reservoirs, transfers, etc.- Cooperation with the neighboring Countries, non-members of the European Union, for theapplication of the WFD principles and methods.

This 8th conference in Megève was also the opportunity for the participants to formulateproposals on the organization and facilitation of the regional European preparation process of the next 6th World Water Forum to be held in Marseilles from 12 to 17 March 2012.

Aware of the importance of the European and global stakes and of the urgency to act, the EUROPE-INBO group intents to continue its action, in particular in the European process of the next World Water Forum; especially it wishes to take part in topics such as implementation of theWFD and daughter directives and UNECE Convention, as the management of transboundary watercourses and adaptation to climate change have become central issues in Europe and it especially wishes to be actively involved in the preparation of priority objectives and solutions within the guidelines set by the Forum International Committee (FIC).

This “EUROPE-INBO 2010” conference was thus a first step to mobilize the whole network and to prepare the active participation of all our member organizations in the 6th World Water Forum, which will be held in Marseilles - France from 12 to 17 March 2012 and, of course, to participate in a dynamic way in its European regional process.