The project is implemented by SIWI in partnership with the Northern Dimension Foundation (Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), the Institute of Economy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia), Global Water Partnership (Poland and Lithuania) and the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Sweden), with support from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

The health of the entire Baltic Sea ecosystem is severely degraded. Pressure from agriculture, energy production, industries and maritime sectors have severely compromised the sea’s health, with most areas now affected by eutrophication, hazardous substances, and degraded biodiversity. Collaboration between the EU member states and Russia on its shared river basins is critical to tackle the deteriorating state of the common Baltic Sea, but collective action in this part of the Baltic is lagging behind.

The transboundary Neman (Poland, Lithuania, RF Kaliningrad Oblast, and Belarus) and Pregola (Poland and RF Kaliningrad Oblast) are two river systems draining into the Baltic Sea where multilateral cooperation is poor and investment in their management limited. In previous work undertaken by the partners (2009-2011) the need for improved water management in this part of the Baltic region was clearly identified. There is scope to achieve major economic gains in multiple sectors, improve ecosystem services while also reaching regional cooperative gains.

Civic action through NGOs and academic institutions can play a major role in building the political commitment for collective action. NGOs and academic institutions can bring skills and knowledge into pre-planning processes and provide a safe space for dialogue together with government officials. Such dialogue is non-committing and non-binding and should be based on sound knowledge and expertise.

This project aims to build an informal and professional partnership to formulate water and environmental management priorities and investments into an economic framework, recognising green and smart growth potential.

The intention is to facilitate official dialogue, cooperation and investment on the shared river basin systems between the Kaliningrad Oblast, Poland, Lithuania and the broader Baltic Sea community of actors, providing incentives for stakeholders to seek more information on how to transform degraded water resources into opportunities. Both EU and Russian regulations offer opportunities for joint management. Further arguments and clear investment frameworks need to be developed to stimulate formal cooperation based on best practice and good data.

The project “Building a framework for collective action in the management of the transboundary waters in Kaliningrad, Russia, Lithuania and Poland (Baltic Sea region)” is funded by the Swedish Institute and will be implemented over three years (2012-2015).

Related publications

• Managing and Development the Water Resources Assets in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, in Support of Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability. Granit et al., 2011.
• Collective Action in the Baltic Sea Region – Options for Strengthening Implementation of the Environmental Pillar of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. Granit and Walline, 2011.

For more information, contact:
Ms Birgitta Liss Lymer
Programme Manager
Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
Email: birgitta.liss.lymer@siwi.org
Phone: +46 8 121 360 89

The event is intended to increase political will and catalyse action around water and security issues. It will highlight recent analyses by the United States, the UN and others that demonstrate the relationships between water, peace and security, and will include an open discussion among High Level Panelists and Ministers on the implications of these findings for addressing challenges at the national and regional levels.

SIWI experts are taking part in:

• High-Level Roundtable on Water, Peace and Security: organized by UN-Water, the European Union and the United States and intended to increase political will and catalyze action around water and security issues.
• Expert Panel on Water Security hosted by UN-Water: to provide input to the development of an Analytical Brief on Water Security that will be launched on World Water Day 2013.

The Roundtable will be webcast on UN WebTV at 1.15pm EDT, 25 September, and you can watch it on UN-Water website at: www.unwater.org/webcast.html