József Gayer is the new Chair of the Global Water Partnership Hungary it was announced on 10 January 2012.

Martina Zupan, Regional Chair participated in the Sava Stakeholder Forum on 9-10 November 2011 in Belgrade.

Raising awareness among young people and their teachers about the vital importance of the Danube Basin is the main aim of the annual Danube Art Master competition. Each child and school in the basin, covering 19 European countries, is invited to create a threedimensional work of art from material found near water, such as plants, shells, mud, grass and waste.

 A River Basin Management Plan of the Sava river basin is under development, the first attempt in the Southern European region to draft a River Basin Management Plan according to the EU Water Framework Directive. GWP Mediterranean and GWP Central and Eastern Europe have significantly contributed to the stakeholder involvement process related to development of the Plan.

GWP Georgia organized a meeting where the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) agreed to carry out a National Policy Dialogue on Integrated Water Resources Management whose main objective is to facilitate achievement of the Millennium Development Goals on water-related issues.

The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) organized, in cooperation with GWP Central and Eastern Europe, the youth competition “International Danube Art Master”.

 – Report from GWP’s Side Event at Astana 2011

At the Seventh “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, GWP convened a side event titled, “Economic Growth and Water: An Integrated Approach Helps” on September 23, 2011. GWP Chair Dr Letitia A Obeng emphasized that “When we speak about the economy and economic growth we speak about water resources.”

On May 18, 2011, a report was launched on improving water resources management in Kaliningrad, Russia.

GWP Hungary and GWP Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) organized a knowledge-sharing workshop on “Water Resources Management Aspects of European Union Strategies for Baltic Sea and Danube Basin Regions” on April 5, 2011 in Budapest, Hungary. The focus was on sharing experiences and expertise from the implementation of the Baltic Sea Strategy. During the workshop, experts identified similarities and differences concerning water management issues and discussed implementation mechanisms and institutional roles such as selection of projects and partnerships in the Danube Region.

In April, GWP Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and GWP Hungary organised a workshop that brought Baltic Region Strategy experiences to the newly formed Danube Region Strategy. The workshop, Parallels: Water Resources Management Aspects of European Union Strategies for Baltic Sea and Danube Regions, held in April 2011, built on previous GWP work on strategy development and focused on new financing mechanisms for macro-regional economic development.