Belgrade, Serbia - On 3 July 2024, the eighth Stakeholder Forum meeting of the "Preparing FAIRway 2 works in the Rhine-Danube corridor" project took place at the Museum of Science and Technology in Belgrade. This unconventional venue was the perfect setting for vital discussions and presentations that are crucial to the project's success.
The forum commenced with a presentation on the final monitoring results for the common Croatian-Serbian section of the Danube, coordinated by Lidija Hubalek from the Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport, and Infrastructure. The newly established modelling consortium, coordinated by Ljubisa Mihajlovic from the Serbian Ministry of Construction, Transport, and Infrastructure, was also introduced. The key topics were the workplan for the modelling activities, the 1D Model Establishment Plan, and the Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). The discussions centred on the MCA, a possible preselection of criteria and future decision parameters. A preliminary vision will be developed over the summer and discussed at the next Stakeholder Forum meeting. The next meeting will also take place in person. The time and place will be fixed and publicised well in advance.
The event concluded with a networking lunch and a guided tour of the museum's exhibitions, which featured a dedicated area on inland waterway transport in Serbia and an exhibit of a fully functional antique diving suit. This added an engaging and educational dimension to the forum, reinforcing the importance of the Danube in both technological and environmental contexts.
The 4th Advisory Committee Meeting for the "Preparing FAIRway 2 Works in the Rhine-Danube Corridor" project, held online on 19 June 2024, brought together stakeholders from diverse backgrounds to review and discuss the project's progress and future activities. The project, co-funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) of the European Union, aims at improving infrastructure, fostering sustainable development, and ensuring efficient inland navigation in the Rhine-Danube Corridor.
Joint Monitoring and Modelling Activities:
During the initial session, Croatian experts unveiled comprehensive findings from extensive monitoring campaigns conducted along the common Croatian-Serbian Danube section. Both data important for waterway maintenance, such as river regulation infrastructure, riverbed measurements, flow and velocity distribution and sediment transport analysis, as well as biodiversity components (fish, bird and habitat surveys) were gathered. Integrated into a GIS environment, this data offers valuable insights into the river’s current state and hydrological dynamics, enhancing also future biodiversity management and conservation efforts. Subsequently, Serbian experts outlined objectives for 1D and 2D hydrodynamic models aimed that will utilize the collected data to identify and prioritise navigational bottlenecks. A multi-criteria analysis (MCA), to be developed with the Stakeholders, will further help to systematically assess the variants for potential river engineering and management options, ensuring balanced and effective solutions.
Austria's Mooring Infrastructure Enhancements:
Significant planned advancements in Austria's mooring infrastructure were showcased, emphasizing improved safety, emission reductions, logistical efficiency and shore-side electricity in the near future. Detailed planning is conducted for selected locations of existing public mooring sites in Aschach, Krems and Vienna.
Croatia's Strategic Mooring Place Infrastructure Study:
A comprehensive study identifying potential mooring sites along the Danube and Sava rivers in Croatia was presented. This study aims to prepare technical documentation for these sites, which will be developed under the FAIRway Danube 2 project.
Serbia's Infrastructure Gap Assessment:
Findings from a gap assessment of Serbia’s mooring infrastructure were presented, highlighting Belgrade and Novi Sad as key locations for future investments. The assessment identified legal, organizational, technical, and financial shortcomings and proposed measures for improvement.
Upcoming Meetings:
The next Advisory Committee meeting is scheduled for 26th November 2024, in Vienna, followed by a field trip on 27th November. This meeting will be in collaboration with the "FAIRway Works!" and "FAIRway Danube II" projects, emphasizing a continued commitment to enhancing the Rhine-Danube Corridor's infrastructure.
Kopačevo, Croatia - In a stride toward sustainable waterway management, the recent Stakeholder Forum meeting of the "Preparing FAIRway 2 works in the Rhine-Danube corridor" project, held on 27 September 2023, in Kopačevo, Croatia, proved to be an important step. It was the first face-to-face meeting of stakeholders opening the way for personal discussions and reinforcing the commitment of Croatian and Serbian waterway managers to an integrated planning process for possible future interventions explored in the project.
The project “Preparing FAIRway 2 works in the Rhine-Danube corridor”, valued at €3,292,000.00 and co-financed by the European Union, focuses on the continuous development of the Danube waterway infrastructure in an efficient, sustainable and user-oriented way. Initiated in July 2020, the project is a collaborative effort of transport ministries of three Danube countries, Austria, Serbia and Croatia.
Central to the Forum’s related topics are monitoring and modelling activities on the common Croatian-Serbian section of the Danube. Monitoring hydrological, hydraulic and morphological parameters, inventorying biodiversity components, as well as subsequent modelling activities investigating potential variants for works interventions are among the key elements receiving special attention.
The involvement of relevant stakeholders is one of the essential requirements of an integrated planning process as defined in the Joint Statement on Guiding Principles for the Development of Inland Navigation and Environmental Protection in the Danube River Basin. Therefore, a dedicated Stakeholder Forum has been established to accompany the activities on the common Croatian-Serbian Danube, with the goal to facilitate information exchange with interested stakeholders and to enable interdisciplinary cooperation. The main purpose of the Forum is not only to acquaint and update the interested stakeholders about the project results, but also to allow them to shape these results through their expert feedback.
The recent sixth forum, held on September 27, 2023, in Kopačevo, Croatia, marked the first in-person meeting, providing an opportunity for face-to-face discussions. The Forum witnessed the active participation of key environmental and administrative stakeholders.
Representatives from Oikon and associated partners presented the monitoring activities carried out on the common Danube section, covering aspects such as the inventory of river regulation infrastructure, riverbed cross-section measurements and partial results from environmental monitoring activities. The use of GIS to visualise data was demonstrated, providing a tangible presentation of the ongoing monitoring efforts was appreciated. The promise of expanded hydrological data at the next Forum increased the anticipation.
PLOVPUT, the Serbian waterway administration, presented an approach to comprehensive hydraulic modelling for the Danube waterway to be carried out in future, adding a technical layer to the discussions. Meanwhile, WWF Adria, Croatian Waters, and the Provincial Institute for Nature Protection shared insights into the protection of the area and related project implementations. The heart of the forum was the lively discussions that followed each presentation. The event underlined the importance of effective communication and shared insights, and marked a significant step towards an interdisciplinary cooperation in shaping sustainable approaches to waterway management.
The event concluded with a field trip to Kopački Rit, a nature protected area located along the Danube river. The Nature Park served as an excellent location to highlight the importance of the river for both inland waterway navigation and environmental protection. The trip provided an insightful on-site experience underlining the importance of coordinated efforts between waterway administrations and nature protection organisations in finding a sustainable way of transportation with minimal environmental impact .
DISC (Danube Information Services Conference) '22 - Bucharest (RO)
The Danube Information Services Conference was held in Bucharest on December 14 and 15, 2022 under the headline "Innovative Solutions for a good navigation status- INNOways4WW". The event was organized by GIS Forum Danube (https://gisforumdanube.org/). Experts from the entire Danube region were participating and presenting the latest technologies, the perspective of companies and current implementation projects. In this scope the project and in particular the specification of WAMOS 2.0 was presented by Susanne Bachl (viadonau,AT).
11th Symposium Nature Part Kopački Rit - Presentation of Monitoring Activities
On 29 and 30 September 2022, the "Kopački Rit Nature Park" in cooperation with various institutions in field of agrobiotechnic, education, biology, chemistry, nature protection and medicine invited to the 11th Symposium "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" in Osijek. Within the framework of this event, there were 68 presentations on various topics and a poster exhibition on national, trans-boundary and international projects and initiatives with 45 representatives.
The project and in particular the monitoring activities were presented by Lidija Hubalek (MMPI, HR) and Lana Deraković-Rakas (MMPI, HR). The exhibited poster can be downloaded as a PDF here.
More information about the event here (in Croatian)!
13th Joint Statement Meeting - Presentation of Monitoring, Modelling and WAMOS 2.0
During the 13th "Follow-up Meeting of the Joint Statement on Guiding Principles for the Development of Inland Navigation and Environmental Protection in the Danube Region" in Budapest (hybrid), parts of the project were presented. The key topics of the event were climate change adaptation and ecologically sound river engineering as well as the challenges associated with climate change.
As these challenges require adequate and modern monitoring tools, Susanne Bachl (viadonau) presented the waterway monitoring system "WAMOS 2.0", the WAMOS predecessor as well as planned innovations and functions. The motto of all this is: common endeavour for harmonised Danube waterway data. You can download the presentation here.
Similarly under the slogan common endeavour, the project partners Ivan Mitrovic (MGSI, RS) and Lidija Hubalek (MMPI, HR) introduced the study in the joint Croatian-Serbian section of the Danube. Information on the planned monitoring activities and the procurement procedure as well as the hydraulic and morphological modelling activity was presented. Furthermore, the Stakeholder Forum, which was established as an expert consultative body within the framework of these two activities, was outlined. The presentation can be found here.
More information about the event here!
2nd Advisory Committee Meeting in Brüssel
On 9 June, the second meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee of the two CEF co-financed projects "FAIRway works! in the Rhine-Danube Corridor" and "Preparing FAIRway 2 works in the Rhine-Danube Corridor" took place in Brussels for the first time in a hybrid setting.
Important milestones of our project were highlighted, such as the Stakeholder Forum, which was established within the framework of this project.
For more information on FAIRway works! click here!
Newsletter
Check out our 1st Newsletter!
It covers updates on the ongoing project activities, general information of the project as well as information on the project's Stakeholders Forum.
It is available for download here.
The first Advisory Committee Meeting held on 9 March 2021 in a digital format kicked off two new CEF co-financed projects “Preparing FAIRway 2 works”…
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Last change:
11. 07. 2024