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GIWA Progress Report 2 January - June 2000 In accordance with the priorities set out in the GIWA Project Document and Work Plan, activities during the Project's second half-year of operation have focussed on the following issues:
The second meeting of the GIWA Steering Group The second meeting of the GIWA Steering Group was held at the GIWA Co-ordination Office in Kalmar 12-14 March 2000. Items on the Agenda included, inter alia, progress of the GIWA Project, the GIWA Work Plan and budget, development of the GIWA Network, development of the GIWA Assessment Protocol, Terms of Reference for the Methods Task Team and fundraising.The GIWA Co-ordination Office and Project Management As GIWA is implemented in co-operation between UNEP and the University of Kalmar, much effort have had to be spent on setting up administrative routines and reporting systems that will satisfy the requirements of UNEP and the University as well as other donors. This work was completed in February 2000 with the help of two experts from UNEP/UNON in Nairobi.In a concerted effort to further strengthen the capacity to effectively manage the many components of the GIWA Project, a detailed Project Plan for the whole project period, including resource allocations to the different components, was elaborated and put into a Microsoft Project frame. A detailed Work Plan for Phase 1 and 2 of the Project was also developed. The Steering Group approved the Project Plan and the Work Plan in March 2000. The plan has since been further developed.
The GIWA Core Team Consultants have been contracted to assist in carrying out high priority Core Team tasks. The GIWA Steering group has stressed the urgent need for a better balance in the Core Team between staff members from developed and developing countries as well as between men and women. These aspects are being considered in ongoing recruitment processes.
The GIWA Network According to the GIWA Project Document, the network established to accomplish the work of GIWA (the GIWA Network) will consist of national experts and institutions, regional and global collaborating bodies organised around the geographic units of assessment and grouped into nine major regions (Megaregions): the Arctic; the North Atlantic; the North Pacific; the Eastern South America; Sub-Saharan Africa; the Indian Ocean; Southeast Asia & the South Pacific; Southeast Pacific; and the Antarctic. The assessments will be carried out by Focal Points for each of the 66 Subregions, co-ordinated and supported by the nine Megaregional Task Teams in co-operation with the GIWA Core Team.The networking is almost completed and will be presented on the GIWA Web Site for each Mega- and Subregion as contractual arrangements are finalised. The networking has partly been carried out by consultants. A number of organisations which hold comprehensive data sets of importance to GIWA have also been approached concerning exchange of data and information. These include EEA, FAO, GEMS/Water, GRDC, GWP, ICES, ICLARM, IOC, LOICZ, SEI, WRI, and the GRID offices in Sioux Falls, Bangkok, Geneva and Arendal. A specific review is ongoing to identify the major data holders and existing data bases which will be essential for the GIWA assessments. A clear picture of what data can be made available from different sources is needed. This task is closely co-ordinated with the development of the Assessment Protocol.
The GIWA Assessment Protocol An agreement has been reached with the University of Plymouth in UK on co-operation to develop the GIWA methodology (the GIWA Assessment Protocol). Under the direct supervision and guidance of the Scientific Director of GIWA, and in close co-operation with the GIWA Core Team, Prof. Laurence Mee, acting on behalf of the University, shall take overall responsibility for the development of the GIWA Assessment Protocol. The University of East Anglia is developing the socio-economic components of the methodology in co-operation with the Plymouth group. A couple of individual consultants have also been contracted for specific tasks.Representatives of the Methods Group, Giwa Core Team and experts held a brainstorming meeting in Plymouth in mid-January 2000 on an ad hoc basis. A first outline of the Assessment Protocol was discussed by the Steering Group at its meeting in March. The GIWA Steering Group emphasized that the further development of the Protocol should be based on the presented outline and gave directions on changes needed, mainly in order to make the Protocol more less complicated and practical. The development of the Assessment Protocol has proceeded in accordance with these guidelines. Most of the Protocol has been presented in draft forms. Due to unforeseen difficulties of resource allocation within the University of Plymouth and their co-operating partners the last component of the Assessment Protocol, namely the Methodology for Causual Chain Analyses has been delayed. The draft of this component is not foreseen completed before August Two Test Teams have been set up and started their work. Prof. William Hogland, Kalmar University, chairs the Baltic Test Team and Dr. Anond Snidvongs, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok chairs the Gulf of Thailand Test Team. Their task is to test the draft Assessment Protocol. The ongoing testing exercises in the Baltic Sea region and Gulf of Thailand region constitute an integrated and decisive part of the methodology development. A methods Kick-off Meeting was held in Kalmar in the beginning of May with representatives from the two Test Teams, Plymouth University and the Core Team. It was followed in June by meetings of the Test Teams in St Petersburg and Pattaya respectively. Both Teams have made progress and seem to be optimistic concerning the future applicability of the methodology which has been presented up to now. However, the difficulties of completing the Methodology for Casual Chain Analyses necessitate an extension of the test period before the testing can be finaly concluded. Further delays which may impact the overall project schedule can not be excluded.
Data management, information and communication A data management, information and communication strategy was submitted to and approved by the Steering Group at its first meeting.As part of the implementation of this strategy, the GIWA web site (www.giwa.net), which also includes an open mailing list, has been launched to provide a forum for dialogue with the international water community and the general public. The web site also includes a section for internal communication within the GIWA Network, providing options for exchange of information, discussions, announcements and a platform for commenting on documents elaborated by GIWA. The site is continuously updated to provide the most recent information about progress in the implementation of GIWA. In addition, the 18-page information brochure, the two full-size posters and the smaller poster which introduce GIWA are still being widely distributed, presented at international conferences and meetings etc. The data management, information and communication strategy and its implementation were further discussed at a workshop organised in co-operation with UNEP/GRID-Arendal in January 2000. The Secretariat for the UNEP/GPA was also represented at the workshop. In addition to these major tasks, the Core Team has continued to devote much time to informing about GIWA at a number of major international conferences and meetings, and through bilateral contacts with international organizations, national institutions etc. An annotated list of international organizations etc. working with water issues and an analysis of their relevance to GIWA as well as a comprehensive bibliography and metadata catalogue of completed/ongoing global and regional programmes/projects related to International Waters have been compiled by consultants.
Fundraising A Fund Raising Strategy for GIWA was approved by the Steering Group at its meeting in March. The Strategy gives guidelines for the future fund raising efforts of the Core Team.The need for additional funding for the successful execution of GIWA was envisaged already in the Project Document. Additional funds are needed both for a general strengthening of the budget and for activities in the 66 Subregions regions. The fund raising efforts of GIWA will be closely co-ordinated with UNEPīs other fund raising activities.
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Global International Waters Assessment, GIWA
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page last modified on Tuesday, August 22, 2006