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Water for life - LIFE for water

Water for life - LIFE for water
Image caption:
Year of publication2010
Publisher(s)European Commission
Directorate-General Environment
Place of publicationLuxembourg
ISBN/ISSN978-92-79-15238-2
Languageen
Page(s)68
Publication typeOther
Since its launch in 1992, the European Commission’s LIFE Programme has generated a significant mass of knowledge concerning many different
aspects of environmental activity. This information remains highly relevant as a learning resource for stakeholders throughout the EU and in neighbouring
countries.
Making sure that there is enough water and it is of suitable quality is one of the
biggest challenges facing society in the coming years. DG Environment’s thematic
conference “Water for life – LIFE for water” proved to be an excellent opportunity
to disseminate the results of projects supported by the LIFE Environment strand
of the LIFE programme in order to facilitate the replication and exchange of good
practices in water protection amongst relevant stakeholders. More than 150 delegates from across Europe attended the event, which took place on 14-15 October 2009 in Brussels, including LIFE project beneficiaries, national and international water authorities, NGOs and the media.
The main objective of the event was to examine the role of LIFE Environment as
an instrument to support the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive
and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive alongside other EU water-related
legislation and policies. The thematic sessions provided a platform for a discussion
on, and a dissemination of the results of, some successful projects. This will
allow us to find transferable outcomes from projects and to mainstream good
practice for the future implementation of LIFE+.
The programme began with a plenary session examining the challenges in water
policy. This was followed by thematic sessions addressing four key areas: adaptation to climate change – how can intelligent water resource management help fight water scarcity?; hydromorphological alterations – how can technical interventions in rivers be linked to ecological river restoration?; the Marine Strategy Framework Directive – how can proven collaborative governance techniques help in implementing the MSFD?; and eutrophication – how can diffuse sources of nutrients
and remaining point sources be tackled effectively?
Finally, the closing plenary session brought together the lessons of the workshops
and looked at potential ‘next steps’ in water policy. This publication aims to give
a flavour of some of the insights gained at the conference.