Malta Intercontinental hotel - EMWIS STEERING COMMITTEE Meeting n 7 BACKGROUND NOTE (ONLINE)

Transcription

1 DATE: PLACE: SUBJECT: 4 th May 2004 from 9:00 to 15:00 Malta Intercontinental hotel - EMWIS STEERING COMMITTEE Meeting n 7 BACKGROUND NOTE (ONLINE) VERSION LIST OF DOCUMENTS I. OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES FOR 2003 II. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT FOR 2003 (to be provided separately) III. IV. PHASE II BUDGET (to be provided separately) PHASE II - WORK PLAN V. EMWIS PROMOTION PLAN VI. VII. REVIEW OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP RULES LINKING EMWIS WITH OTHER REGIONAL WATER INFORMATION SYSTEMS

2 OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES FOR 2003 Today, 14 member countries have launched their EMWIS national sites. The year 2003 was marked by an important administrative delay (11 months) for completing the European Commission s contract covering the activities of the phase II (ref. ME8/AIDCO/2003/004763/069442) and involving the three partners of the Technical Unit: OIEau (France), CEDEX (Spain) and SOGESID (Italy). We took benefit from this period to carry out preparatory actions for the new program, to complete actions launched at the end of 2002 and to pursue promotion. Completion of the phase I (July, December, 2002) - Preparation of the technical and financial report of the phase I (July, December, 2002) for the European Commission. - Finalisation of mini CD-ROM (in the size credit card) integrating various EMWIS presentations (French and English) as well as newsletters. The EMWIS PowerPoint Presentation was also translated into Arabic language (language to be used for accessing information for the phase II) and integrated on the CD- ROM. - Final edition of an EMWIS graphic charter to harmonize publications produced by the partners (brochures, posters, reports, presentations MS-PowerPoint, headed paper, etc.). - Follow-up of the improvement of Internet connections for the Algerian Focal Points (satellite connection) and Jordanians (specialized cable connection). Operating the International Focal Point - Continuous updating of the Technical Unit s web server - Three editions of the EMWIS electronic flash, spread to addressees for the French version and for the English version. - Pursuit of the constitution of the thematic Directory on the water (who does what in every country): Update of the contents, and preparation of a new version of the software application for multilingual consultation and update. EMWIS promotion EMWIS was presented within the framework of the following international events: - On March 31 (Montpelier) within during the workshop on sewage and reuse of waste water in tourist zone organized by the LIFE environment project 2000 GEOASSEV. - On June 16 and 17 (Montpelier) during the kick-off meeting of the ISIIMM project (social and institutional Innovations in the management of the irrigation in the Mediterranean) co-funded by the MEDA-Water programme F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 2/11

3 - Water Information Summit, organized in Delft (NL) from 9 till 12 September Water a treasure for future, organized by the region Lombardia ( IT) on September 29 and 30 - World Congress 'Water resources Management in 21-th century ' organized by IWRA ( INTERNATIONAL WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION) in Madrid from 5 till 9 October. - General assembly of the Mediterranean Network of Basin Organisations (MENBO), organized in Valencia from 10 till 13 November. During the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan (in March 16-23, 2003), EMWIS coordinate a session and gave presentations in several other sessions: - the EMWIS session was organized on March 19 within the framework of the Water and Information theme (Osaka) - EMWIS presentation within the framework of one session on new technologies for sharing water information (March 19) - Presentation of the EMWIS during the day of the Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea (March 20) - Presentation of the EMWIS during the session organized by the Italian government on water governance (March 20) Management of the Technical Unit - General Meeting of the European Economic Interest Group EMWIS Technical Unit (UT-SEMIDE): the 6th General Meeting of the EEIG UT-SEMIDE took place on June 25, 2003 in Sophia-Antipolis with the participation of the three partners (OIEAU, SOGESID and CEDEX). - Extraordinary General Meeting of the EEIG UT-SEMIDE was organised on December 9, 2003 in Sophia-Antipolis with the participation of the three partners (OIEAU, SOGESID and CEDEX) to confirm the participation of the CEDEX as statutory member of the EEIG UT-SEMIDE (CEDEX was an associate member in past) - Organization of three coordination meetings between the organisation members of the Technical Unit - Installation of the Technical Unit in a new premises (CICA - International Centre of Advanced Communication) in Sophia Antipolis as from February 3, International recruitment procedure of a water information officer and an IT responsible for the Technical Unit F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 3/11

4 - Revision of the management procedures of the Technical Unity for stake in accordance with the new contract regulation of the European Commission Preparation launch of the new contract with the European Commission - Meeting with the European Commission on July 3, 2003 to clarify the modalities of the contract signature for EMWIS phase II. This contract was effectively signed by the European Commission on July 24, 2003 then by the French and Spanish partners (OIEau and CEDEX) in August, The signature of the Italian partner (SOGESID) was delayed because of the necessary publication of an inter-ministerial decree. The starting date of this new contract was fixed on December 1st, 2003 for a period of 3 years. - Contacting with the coordinators of eight projects co-funded by the European Commission within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean regional program for local water management (MEDA-Water) and launch of a specific section on this program within the EMWIS web site. - Training on the methodology of the lifecycle project management and the logical framework (recommended by the European Commission for MEDA-EAU projects) with the Mediterranean Institute of Water (IME) which should be in charge of the monitoring of this program. F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 4/11

5 PHASE II WORK PLAN Overall 3 years programme (December 2003 November 2006) The programme planned in the EC contract is structured around the following 9 action lines (the full work-programme is available on line Phase II ): 1. The co-ordination with political structures to maintain a high level of commitment within the Euro-Med countries, including: Annual meeting of the Steering Committee Annual meeting of the Coordination Committee (next one in Rabat, in July 2004) Annual conference to promote EMWIS, to review the progress of MEDA-Water projects (and others) and to present the results of thematic studies One conference of the Euro-Med water directors to assess the progress and valid future developments (end 2005) 2. The reinforcement of the NFP to ensure their sustainability through a strong national commitment, Annual training seminar for the IT or content managers of the NFP Analysis of national needs and requirements related to National Water Information Systems (that might be completed with recommendations for funding by international organisations) Examples of NFP good practices Direct financial support to the NFP covering: investment costs (up to Euros), web site translation costs (up to 8000 Euros) and running costs (promotion, training, technical assistance - up to Euros) 3. The expansion and development of EMWIS services: Introduction of the Arabic language Synchronising calendar of events and news Meta-Crawler 4. The technical upgrade of the existing system, taking into account state of art technologies (e.g. XML) and new water information systems under development in the various partner countries (e.g. reuse of the same content for several web sites) 5. The operation of Euro-Med water information services: completion and updates of EMWIS websites, thematic directory, multilingual water dictionary, electronic flash 6. Promotion of EMWIS to raise awareness among water stake-holders about the benefits of sharing information and know-how 7. Thematic analysis oriented towards the areas and themes of the Turin Action Plan, that will be presented at the annual conferences 8. Dissemination of the MEDA-Water Programme results in close cooperation with the European Commission, the programme monitoring team and the Water Facilitators 9. Liaison and cooperation with international initiatives to avoid duplication and develop synergies, especially for the definition of international standards to exchange information in the water sector F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 5/11

6 Decisions to be taken By the end of 2006, a total of 4 good practice examples will have to be developed (action line 2 of the programme ). These case studies should help (the NFP) in the management of water information at either the national or international level. The first suggestions are: Practical organization to build a National Water Information System and to organize the information network with the different partners, Sharing information at the national level, Role of information in a national water strategy, what are the best media to reach local stakeholders? Promotion of a National Water Information System, Running an EMWIS NFP, Information requirements to set-up an Integrated Water Resources Management plan at the national level In the framework of action line 7 of the programme, 6 thematic studies will have to be undertaken. Two studies will be carried out each year and results will be presented at the annual EMWIS conferences. The Steering Committee members must validate 6 themes from the list below based on the Turin Action Plan and on past discussions among EMWIS community: EU Water Framework Directive and the Mediterranean Partner Countries: identification of interest and transfers of success cases of the WFD application in EU countries to the MPC Integrated management of local drinking water supply, sanitation and sewage; Local water resources and water demand management (quantity and quality) within catchment s areas and islands; Prevention and mitigation of the negative effects of drought and equitable management of water scarcity; Irrigation water management; Use of non-conventional water resources; Preparation of national and local scenarios for sustainable water management Awareness raising, mobilisation and promotion of commitment of the population Water and economics; Local management of river basin Re-use of the treated waste water and sanitary impact Use of the brackish waters for cultures and suited soil Management of the coastal aquifers Optimization of the flood announcements Impact of tourism development: mmanagement of periodic demand increase, equipment necessary, financing modalities, etc. Propositions for hosting the EMWIS annual conferences (action line 7). Palermo has been suggested as a potential hosting city (to be confirmed) for the first conference in November/December F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 6/11

7 EMWIS PROMOTION PLAN For an information system such as EMWIS, promotional activities are necessary to ensure a broad use of the system by information providers and users, as well as to allow a full transfer of ownership towards each country (for a better sustainability). In this context, the goal of the promotion plan is to define a coherent approach of the promotional activities to be set-up by EMWIS partners. This approach is based on: A common vision and mission statement: EMWIS is the Water Information hub for the Med area. Its specificity relies on its decentralised approach A visual identity and brand strategy based on a common graphic and design rules Systematic assessments of use and user needs Quality outputs The promotional activities will be targeted to four types of audience as outlined in the table below: Target user groups Objectives of promotional/communication activities NFP Ensure the development and update of a national water information portal as an EMWIS node Information users Increase the consultation of EMWIS Content providers: MEDA-Water projects National & International Research or Development projects Libraries Governmental agencies Universities Water international bodies Collaboration with EMWIS Technical Unit and NFP to develop and provide access to information Decision makers: Euro-Med Water Directors MEDA water facilitators Euro-Med Ministers in charge of water Med committee members EU delegations in Med Countries Members of EU Parliament European Commission services WorldBank (e.g. METAP) European Investment Bank Support of EMWIS as an institutional system and a coherent development of water information systems F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 7/11

8 The table below outlines the tools with their main targeted audience. Tools NFP Information users Content providers Decision makers International Website X X National websites X X E-Flash X X Other multimedia material Paper newsletter X Brochure X X X Other printed material NFP meetings X Annual EMWIS conferences X X X Steering Committee meetings X X Press releases X X X Presentations during conferences X X X Articles in specialised press X X A full report in English is available from the EMWIS Technical Unit. F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 8/11

9 REVIEW OF STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP RULES In order to give an opportunity to all the Mediterranean Partner Countries MPC- to take part in the Steering Committee and thus reinforcing their high-level commitment, the current Steering Committee members will decide on members renewing rules. This will ensure that this Committee will comprise both permanent members (i.e. those funding the Technical Unit) and rotating members. Reminders The Steering Committee is responsible for: Defining the main strategic orientations Validating the results obtained in each phase Validating EMWIS annual action plan and budget Usually the Steering Committee members are meeting once a year. The European Commission is always invited to take part in these meetings. Today, this committee includes: The water directors of the 9 countries of the Euro-Med Partnership who have taken part in the preliminary study of EMWIS in (Algeria, Cyprus, France, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Morocco, Palestine, Spain) The organisations supporting the Technical Unit (CEDEX, OIEau, SOGESID) as observer members Currently, the Presidency is assured by Spain, the Vice-presidency by Cyprus and the Honorary Presidency by Italy. The member countries are usually nominated for a 4 years period during a meeting of the Euro-Med Water Directors. According to the resolutions adopted in Madrid in November 2001, the current mandate will last till end of July Constraints From an organizational point of view, we must keep the Steering Committee at a reasonable size to enable decisions making in a consensual way. From a financial point of view, the EMWIS contractual budget covers the travelling and subsistence costs for the representatives of Mediterranean Partners Countries MPC- i.e. 6 persons for one meeting each year. So, here we have a limit of 6 MPC, but in parallel it is possible to increase the number of EU countries (who are supporting their travelling and subsistence costs themselves). As from May, 2004, Cyprus and Malta will be members of the U.E. F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 9/11

10 Rules proposed for renewing SC members The following rules are proposed for discussion among the members of the EMWIS Steering Committee: The Steering Committee is composed of 3 permanent members corresponding to the country committed in the funding of the EMWIS Technical Unit, plus 6/7 rotating members representing at least 4 countries of the EU Mediterranean Partner Countries The term for renewable members will be 2 years Each year 2 members will be renewed The water Director (or his representative) of a candidate country will have to send an application letter to the SC President At their annual meeting, the Steering Committee members will validate the membership renewal. F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 10/11

11 LINKING EMWIS WITH OTHER REGIONAL WATER INFORMATION SYSTEMS In order to prepare concrete actions, two levels of priorities have been defined (see below) for collaboration with the various international initiatives working in the Mediterranean. Initiatives Priority Potential interest EU-WI MED 1 Participation in the development of the Med-Component led by Greece Coordination of EMWIS activities with complementary ones Proposal of new activities GWP(-Med) 1 Discussion with GWP Information Systems to define a common standard to exchange information EMWIS as main information system for the GWP Med World Bank 1 Mediterranean Environmental Technical Assistance Program METAP- water quality and knowledge management Middle East and Med Regional Water Partnership Mediterranean Water Institute (IME) 1 Agreement signed EC MEDA-Water FAO-Aquastat 2 Institutions directory Country profiles Water resources and agricultural water use per country EXACT and WaterNet project 2 Common standard to exchange information or even joint resources (e.g. databases) International Network of Basin Organisation (INBO) 2 Agreement signed Support to MENBO MEDSTAT project 2 Publication or access to water statistics produced World Water Council (including the) European Environment Agency Med-Hycos project Mediterranean Hydrological Cycle Observing System Mediterranean Action Plan UNESCO (World water portal) 2 Follow-up for next World Water Forum (Mexico 2006) 2 To be further analysed 2 Re-use of results? 2 To be further analysed 2 To be further analysed F:\Réunions\CD\CD7_Malta_200405\EN_background_online_CD7.doc 11/11