update Updated 20 November 2024
category News
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, the International Network of Basin Organization (INBO) held its World General Assembly to bring together stakeholders in basin management and develop concerted and innovative solutions.
Official Opening Ceremony, 12th General Assembly of INBO – ©INBO/RIOB/RIOC
This 12th World General Assembly was held with the support of the French Ministry of Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk Prevention, at the invitation of the French water agencies, in particular the Adour-Garonne Water Agency and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, and in partnership with the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB).
Find below the key figures, some of the highlighted projects and the presentations from the General Assembly of INBO.
The World General Assembly in video
Projects
During this event, INBO was able to launch and highlight several projects, including:
- The SpongeWorks Open Call for Associated Regions offers a unique opportunity to receive up to €100,000 in grant funding to develop nature-based solutions for improving water retention, soil health, and climate resilience in your own territory.
- The Peer-to-Peer Action Support for Basin Organisation funded by EU, and part of INBO Twin Basin Initiative.
- The GOVAQUA Seminar in Bordeaux, held in conjunction with INBO 2024’s General Assembly, brought together over 80 experts to discuss innovative practices in water governance and the evaluation of governance systems. Key topics included the development of the GOVAQUA assessment tool, and participatory and digital solutions to strengthen water resilience in Europe. Interactive exchanges enabled participants to share feedback and concrete applications for sustainable water resource management.
- Introduction of the three projects GOVAQUA, InnWater, and RetouchNexus
- Reflecting on the previous event in Valencia and sharing first results
- Wooclap session 1
- Setting the scene in EU context Water resilience is built with better water governance
- Water allocation and eflows
- Economic and Financial instruments
- InnWater Social Innovation
- Citizen Engagement
- Digital Solutions
- Assessing water governance – introducing the GOVAQUA assessment tool
- Wooclap session 2
- Closing remarks and next steps
Presentations of the speakers
The General Assembly provided an opportunity for rich and fruitful exchanges between the various program speakers, as well as the people in the rooms. This took the form of questions and answers at the end of each session, but also during informal times such as breaks and meals.
You will find below the presentations used during this Assembly.
Workshop’s presentations
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Technical workshop: improving the coherence of water and biodiversity policies, from cities to basins
Working meeting of the African Network of Basin Organizations (ANBO)
SESSION 1 > International Cooperation
Local people need to understand that they have been part of the problem in the past, but they are also part of the solution for the future.
Mr. Juan Ocola Salazar – Director, Lake Titicaca Autonomous Authority – 2024
- Ms. Birgit Vogel, Executive Secretary, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR)
- Ms. Florence Adongo, Executive Director, Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), President of the African Network of Basin Organizations (ANBO)
- Mr. Juan Ocola Salazar, Director of the Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca, Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca (ALT)
- Mr. Manuel Alejandro Morales Galván, Secretary of the Mexican Section, International Boundary and Water Commission between Mexico and the United States.
- Mr. Marc Daniel Heintz, Head of Secretariat, International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)
- Mr. Harry Liiv, Special Envoy for Transboundary Waters, Ministry of Climate, Estonia
SESSION 2A > Good ecological status of water
The quality of governance is the counterpart of performance, because in addition to guaranteeing coherence, it is the basis of the legitimacy necessary for any development initiative: it is on the basis of this shared observation that we have begun to work collectively on sustainable solutions linked to the importance of biodiversity and the ecological state of the lake.
Ms. Voahangy Ravaonorolala – Infrastructure & Development Division Director, Itasy region (Madagascar) – 2024
- Mr. Bernard De Potter, General Administrator, Flemish Environment Agency (VMM), Belgium
- Ms. Isabelle Matykowski, Director General, Artois-Picardie Water Agency (AEAP), France
- Ms. Voahangy Ravaonorolala, Director, Infrastructure and Development Division, Itasy Region, Madagascar
- Mr. Juan Carlos Bocel, Monitoring and Evaluation, Lake Atitlán Basin Authority (AMSCLAE), Guatemala
- Mr. CAO Yongtao, Director of River Morphology, Yellow River Hydraulic Research Institute, Ministry of Water Resources, China
- Mr. Nika Gogatishvili, Senior Specialist, Water Division, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Georgia
- Mr. Ernst Überreiter, Directorate General I – Water Management, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management, Austria
SESSION 2B > Transboundary cooperation and water quality management
Several meetings with India led to the discovery that the cause of the pollution was linked to a major Indian city. So India asked us to set up treatment actions.
Mr. Mohammad Hossen – India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission
- Mr. Pierre Baril, Canadian Commissioner & Co-Chairman, International Joint Commission, Canada – United States of America
- Mr. Sylvain Tusanga Mukanga, Executive Director, Lake Tanganyika Authority
- Dr. Maria-Elena Giner, Commissioner (U.S. Section), International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico
- Mr. Mohammad Hossen, Blangladesh Member, India-Bangladesh Joint River Commission
- Mr. Comfort Molosiwa, Executive Secretary, Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM)
- Mr. Dragan Zeljko, Executive Secretary, International Sava River Basin Commission (ISRBC)
- Mr. Edward Rukuunya, Director of Fisheries Management and Development, Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization (LVFO)
SESSION 2C > Agriculture and water quality
We are changing Agriculture to adapt it to the reality of climatology and climate change.
Mr. Loïc Mangeot – Deputy Director, Martinique Water Office, France – 2024
- Mr. Nicolas Juillet, President, Seine-Normandy Water Agency, France
- Mr. Loïc Mangeot, Deputy Director, Martinique Water Office, France
- Mr. Theoneste S. Ntakiyimana, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC)
- Ms. Reeda Iismaa, Advisor Water department, Ministry of Climate, Estonia
- Mr. Yofre Mendoza Zambrano, Tierras Amarillas Rocafuerte Community, Principal representative of the agricultural users of the Portoviejo Basin Coucnil, Ecuador
- Dr. Imam Santoso, President of the Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO) and Chairman of Perum Jasa Tirta II, Indonesia
- Ms. Amani Alfarra, Land and Water Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
SESSION 3 > Water Scarcity
In the face of wicked problems, if a group of people can find the points they agree on and focus there, that’s when collaboration begins. At the MDBA, we are taking to our purpose and we want to see the regulatory outcomes of the Basin Plan to preserve rivers for generations.
Mr. Andrew McConville – Chief Executive Officer, Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Australia – 2024
- Ms. Aude Witten, Deputy Director General, Adour-Garonne Water Agency (AEAG), France
- Ms. Françoise Goulard, Director of Research, Innovation and Ecological Transition, Bordeaux Metropole Water Authority (REBM), France
- Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, Executive Secretary, Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS)
- Mr. Andrew McConville, Chief Executive Officer, Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Australia
- Mr. Miguel Polo, President, Júcar Hydrographic Confederation (CHJ), Spain
- Ms. Adriana Bocaiuva, President, Guanabara Bay Basin Committee, Brazil
- Ms. Oygul Usmanova, Head of International Communications Division, Scientific Information Center, Interstate Coordination Commission on Water in Central Asia (SIC ICWC)
SESSION 4A > Reconciling the natural and urban water cycles
We face many challenges in gaining civil society’s acceptance of this type of unconventional resource.
Ms. Dolores Pascual Vallés – Director General of Water, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Spain – 2024
- Ms. Dolores Pascual Vallés, Director General of Water, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Spain
- Mr. Nicolas Mourlon, Director General, Rhône-Mediterranean-Corsica Water Agency (AERMC), France
- Ms. Aziza Bilal, Head of Communication and Cooperation Department, Bouregreg and Chaouia Hydraulic Basin Agency, Kingdom of Morocco
- Mr. Murilo Ferreira de Sant’Anna, Awareness and Communication Manager, Inter-Municipal consortium of the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundia River Basins (Consórcio PCJ), Brazil
- Mr. Manuel Sapiano, Water Director, Water and Energy Agency, Malta
- Mr. Martiros Nalbandyan, Deputy Chairman of the Water Committee, Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia, EU4Environment project
- Mr. Loay sief, Senior Hydrologist and board member of the Permanent Joint Technical Commission for Nile Waters, Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI), Egypt
SESSION 4B > Data and Information
Most of people don’t care where the data comes from, they are more interested in what they can do with it. Satellites are tools to transform our knowledge on water management.
Mr. Perry Oddo – Associate Program Manager, Water Resources Program, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2024
- Ms. Judith ter Maat, Expert in surface water and delta management, Deltares, Netherlands
- Mr. Heikki Mäkinen, Chief Executive Officer, Lake Vesijärvi Foundation, Finland
- Mr. Ousmane Hane, Secretary General, Organization for the Development of Gambia river (OMVG)
- Mr. Xavier Lazzaro, Environmental Specialist, Binational Autonomous Authority of Lake Titicaca and the Lake Titicaca Water System (ALT), Peru-Bolivia
- Mr. Michel le Van Kiem, Director of Development and Innovation, Bordeaux seaport (Grand port maritime de Bordeaux)
- Mr. Perry Oddo, Associate Program Manager, Water Resources Program, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Mr. Muraoka Kazumitsu, Japan International Cooperation Agency Advisor on Water Management Technology and Policy to the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)
SESSION 4C > Nature-based Solutions
There’s work to be done with local stakeholders to develop citizen awareness, such as planting hedges around crops, or restoring riparian vegetation.
Dr. Joanne Vinke de Kruijf – Associate Professor, SpongeWorks Project – 2024
- Mr. Eric Mino, Head of the “Europe, Mediterranean & Central Asia” department, International Office for Water (OiEau)
- Mr. Cyrille Barnerias, Director of European and International Relations, French Biodiversity Agency (OFB)
- Ms. Sylvie Jego, Head of the Biodiversity, Agriculture, Aquatic Environments and Cartography Department, Adour-Garonne Water Agency (AEAG)
- Dr. Yohana Cabaret, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, NBRACER Project Coordinator for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region
- Dr. Sonia Siauve, Project Manager, Water International Office (OiEau)
- Dr. Joanne Vinke-de Krujif, Associate Professor, University of Twente, SpongeWorks Project
- Dr. Shamal Chandra Das, Chief Engineer in charge of Planning, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)
- Mr. Andres Blanco, Senior Economic Specialist, Water and Sanitation, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
SESSION 5 > Climate Change Adaptation & Good Governance
We are discovering that those who have water have power, and that water doesn’t come out of the tap, but is a natural resource that needs to be managed.
Mr. Thierry Burlot – President, Loire-Brittany Basin Committee, France – 2024
- Mr. Luciano Elhy de Princy Andriavelojaona Nirina, Director General, National Water and Sanitation Authority (ANDEA), Madagascar
- Mr. Phera S. Ramoeli, Executive Secretary, Okavango Basin Permanent Water Commission (OKACOM)
- Ms. Edith Paredes, Administrative Director, Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA)
- Mr. Osvaldo Martinez Torres, Deputy Director General for Integrated Water Management, National Institute of Water Resources, Cuba
- Mr. Zhao HAO, Director General, International Economic & Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center (INTCE), Ministry of Water Resources, China
- Mr. Alessandro Bratti, Secretary General, Po River Basin Authority, Italy