Stockholm International Water Institute » Kaliningrad http://www.siwi.org Water Wise World Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:26:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 SIWI Implements Baltic Sea Project http://www.siwi.org/news/siwi-implements-baltic-sea-project/ http://www.siwi.org/news/siwi-implements-baltic-sea-project/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:38:43 +0000 Sanna http://www.siwi.org/?post_type=news&p=5158 Stockholm, Sweden (December 12 2012) – The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is implementing a project to enhance civic action with partners in Russia, Kaliningrad Oblast, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. The aim is to increase investments into good management of the transboundary rivers in the Eastern Baltic Sea Region and promote smart and green growth.

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

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

]]> http://www.siwi.org/news/siwi-implements-baltic-sea-project/feed/ 0 Managing and Developing the Water Resources (EN) http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:08 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/ The report demonstrates how effective water resources management can support sustainable economic development in sectors such as tourism, health, agriculture and industry while at the same time restoring ecosystem services in accordance with the Russian Water Act and the EU Water Framework Directive. The report outlines specific steps to be taken by the Kaliningrad Oblast internally and in partnership with its neighbours to achieve concrete benefits from better management of the water resources. Collective action amongst all the states in the Baltic Sea Region will be critical to reach the vision of a healthy Baltic Sea as agreed by the contracting partners to the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and by the EU members States. The report is prepared in partnership with the Nordic Dimension Foundation in the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia with input from experts from Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

Published in 2011.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-en/feed/ 0 Managing and Developing the Water Resources (RU) http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:06 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/ (this file is in Russian) The report demonstrates how effective water resources management can support sustainable economic development in sectors such as tourism, health, agriculture and industry while at the same time restoring ecosystem services in accordance with the Russian Water Act and the EU Water Framework Directive. The report outlines specific steps to be taken by the Kaliningrad Oblast internally and in partnership with its neighbours to achieve concrete benefits from better management of the water resources. Collective action amongst all the states in the Baltic Sea Region will be critical to reach the vision of a healthy Baltic Sea as agreed by the contracting partners to the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and by the EU members States. The report is prepared in partnership with the Nordic Dimension Foundation in the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia with input from experts from Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

Published in 2011. Also available in English.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-ru/feed/ 0 Managing and Developing the Water Resources Assets in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia in Support of Economic Growth and Environmental Sustainability http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/ http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/#comments Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:50:04 +0000 admin http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/ The report demonstrates how effective water resources management can support sustainable economic development in sectors such as tourism, health, agriculture and industry while at the same time restoring ecosystem services in accordance with the Russian Water Act and the EU Water Framework Directive. The report outlines specific steps to be taken by the Kaliningrad Oblast internally and in partnership with its neighbours to achieve concrete benefits from better management of the water resources. Collective action amongst all the states in the Baltic Sea Region will be critical to reach the vision of a healthy Baltic Sea as agreed by the contracting partners to the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) and by the EU members States. The report is prepared in partnership with the Nordic Dimension Foundation in the Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia with input from experts from Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.

]]> http://www.siwi.org/publication/managing-and-developing-the-water-resources-assets-in-kaliningrad-oblast-russia-in-support-of-economic-growth-and-environmental-sustainability/feed/ 0 Building a framework for collective action in the management of the transboundary waters in Kaliningrad, Russia; Lithuania and Poland http://www.siwi.org/project/twm-kaliningrad/ http://www.siwi.org/project/twm-kaliningrad/#comments Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:38:55 +0000 Nora http://www.siwi.org/?post_type=project&p=562 Pressure from agriculture, fisheries, industries, and the maritime sector have severely compromised the health of the Baltic Sea, with most areas now affected by eutrophication, hazardous substances, and degraded biodiversity. Collaboration between the EU and Russia is critical to tackle the deteriorating state of the common Baltic Sea. Much cooperation on the numerous transboundary river basins in the Baltic Sea region is on-going. However, there are still some areas where cooperation and collective action is lagging behind due to different political and economic reasons. The transboundary Neman (Poland, Lithuania, RF Kaliningrad Oblast, and Belarus) and Pregola (Poland and RF Kaliningrad Oblast) are two such rivers systems draining into the Baltic Sea Region where multilateral cooperation is poor.

In previous work undertaken by SIWI and partners in Russia (Kaliningrad), Lithuania and Poland, (2009-2011) the need for improved water management in this part of the Baltic was clearly identified. The potential for improved ecosystem services, increased economic gains and longer-term regional cooperative gains were also shown.

Civic action through NGOs and academic institutions can play a major role in building the political commitment needed 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 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 needs to be developed to stimulate formal cooperation based on best practise and good data.

The project is funded by Swedish Institute and will be implemented over 3 years (2012 – 2015) by SIWI (Sweden, coordinating institution), Northern Dimension Foundation (Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), 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).

Project Info

 

 

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