CABRI-VolgaCooperation Along a Big RIver:

Institutional coordination among stakeholders for environmental risk management in the Volga basin

International Scientific and Industrial Forum «Great Rivers 2004»

May, Nizhniy Novgorod

CABRI-Volga

Project basis

UNESCO Volga initiative:

1st phase – Volga Vision

2nd phase – Extrabudgetary projects

2nd phase –

UNESCO Caspian initiative

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CABRI-Volga6th Framework Programme of the European Commission

International cooperation programme

INCO

CABRI-Volga

Information about the project

INCO Proposal Research objectives:

Environmental protection

Management of environmental risks associated with man-made changes, industrial and agricultural wastes including risks to soil, water, air and the food chain and possible remediation

CABRI-Volga

Information about the project

Duration: January, 2005 – December, 2006

Mission statement:The development of international cooperation

for The environmental risk management, sustainable development and enhancing human security in the Volga basin

throughimproving institutional cooperation and partnership between multiple stakeholders, and strengthening researches potential.

CABRI-Volga

Project goals

• To mobilise existing human and institutional resources and increase the research potential on environmental risk management, to link Europe’s environmental research more strongly to research programs at the international level;

• To provide a concrete contribution to major EU and international policy goals (Water Initiative, the UN Millennium Development Goals);

• To strengthen the links between the scientific communities and policy-making processes by establishing a dialogue on mutual demands and practical needs, and by providing policy guidance and knowledge transfer;

CABRI-Volga

Project goals

• To follow an integrative approach for management of anthropogenic environmental risks in the Volga basin, emphasizing institutional cooperation

• To develop a long-term perspective for scientific cooperation and experience exchange on integrated environmental risk management in larger river basins; contributing to the promotion of environmental and human security in Russia and in Europe as a whole.

CABRI-Volga

Project emphasis: institutional factors

Analysis of conditions:

• Horizontal and vertical coordination of administrations responsible for environmental risk management

• Existing and potential conflicts of interests

• Participation of interest groups in the policy - making process

• Implementation of and demands in the environmental legislation

CABRI-Volga

Analysis of links between the participants of the development process and management in the basin:

• non-existing cooperation links and demands for them

• existing but inefficient cooperation links with room for improvement

• efficient cooperation links with possibilities for replication

Project emphasis: institutional factors

CABRI-Volga

Analysis of mechanisms:

• strengths and weaknesses of the basin environmental programmes, realization experience

• quality of monitoring systems and information exchange

• institutional effectiveness

Project emphasis: institutional factors

CABRI-VolgaCABRI targets:

•International partner networks

•Local partner networks

•Existing projects, programmes and initiatives

•Institutional mechanisms: the establishment of a Basin Council the establishment of Small Rivers Fund the establishment of the National Committee of the International Human Dimensions Programme

CABRI-Volga

CABRI targets:

•Institutional instruments:

Ecological Doctrine of the Russian Federation,

Volga Revival Programme

Water Code of the Russian Federation

• Development of international projects

• Contribution to the realization of strategies and implementation of standards

CABRI-Volga

CABRI-Volga realization plan

CABRI-Volga

Working Groups:

1. River & Environmental Rehabilitation

2. Human Security and Vulnerability

3. Natural Resources & their Sustainable Use

4. Connecting Goods and People

5. Institutional Coordination & Cooperation

CABRI-Volga

Work packages:

1. Inception

2. State-of-the-art and good practices

3. Scenario development

4. Recommendations and future actions

5. Evaluation, dissemination and exploitation of results

6. Project management and scientific coordination

CABRI-Volga

Tangible projects outputs Self-standing project documents based on:

expert discussions in the working groups materials and reports provided by the participants and project partnersconsensus achieved during expert discussions

Established networks of experts and stake holders, incl.: at the national level - networks of interest groups within the Volga basin at the international level - networks ro facilitate the exchange of experience between Europe and Russia/NIS

CABRI-VolgaTangible projects outputsOperational tools, such as:· website as a knowledge pool and contact database· newsletters and press statements· publications, containing project materials and results· policy briefs

Concrete proposals to contribute to the existing initiatives on the development of coordination mechanisms along the basin, such as:· the establishment of the Volga Basin Council· the establishment of a State Fund for the Protection of Small Rivers in the Volga Basin· the establishment of a National Committee for the International Human Dimension Programme on Global Environmental Change

CABRI-VolgaParticipants and partners of the project

Consortium:

9 EU organizations

9 RF organizations

Project coordinators

Working groups Coordinators

Work packages Coordinators

Partners network: around 130 organizations

• NGOs

• Municipal administrations

• State Duma (Parliament) of Russia

• Business and commercial organizations

• Scientific society

• International organizations

• Other partners

CABRI-Volga

For EU:Mr Frank Wefering

Rupprecht Consult Forschung & Beratung GmbHWaltherstr. 49-5151069 CologneGermany

E-mail: f.wefering@rupprecht-consult.de

Tel.: +49 221 6060 5513Fax: +49 221 6060 5529Web: www.rupprecht-consult.de

For Russia/NIS:Mr Serguei Smirnov

UNESCO Moscow Office15/28, Bolshoi Levshinsky per.,bld.2119034 MoscowRussia

E-mail: s.smirnov@unesco.ru Tel.: +7 095 202 8097 /8166/8759, ext. 121Fax: +7 095 202 0568Web: www.unesco.ru

Contact information: