1. Helmut Habersack Structural Projects Danube Region Helmut Habersack Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

2. Helmut Habersack Contents  Introduction  Danube Strategy  Examples concerning natural risks, transport  International Conference on the Status and Future of the World´s Large Rivers

3. Helmut Habersack EU Strategy for the Danube Region  Danube Strategy officially took off on 19 th June 2009 when the European Council invited the Commission to develop a strategy for the area around the Danube.  The goal is a targeted policy for the Danube that meets its ecological, transport and socio-economic needs  The Danube Strategy should be finalised by December 2010 and launched in early 2011 under the Hungarian Presidency of the EU

4. Helmut Habersack Topics / 3 ‘pillars’:  to improve connectivity and communication systems (covering in particular transport, energy issues and the information society);  to preserve the environment and prevent against natural risks;  and to reinforce the potential for socio-economical development. EU Strategy for the Danube Region

5. Helmut Habersack  European Territorial Cooperation programmes (ETC) in the Danube area  For the period 2007-2013, nearly half of the Territorial Cooperation Programmes ETC are focused on the Danube area. More exactly, on a total of 94 ETC programmes, 41 ETC programmes (18 Cross-border programmes, 7 Transnational programmes, 13 IPA CBC programmes and 3 ENPI programmes) are being runned in the Danube region. http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/danube/ EU Strategy for the Danube Region

6. Helmut Habersack Priority: Protection and Improvement of the Environment Area of intervention: Improve integrated water management and flood risk prevention 14 ERDF Partners: Austria (2), Bulgaria (2), Hungary (3), Italy (1), Romania (5), Slovakia (1) 6 IPA Partners: Croatia (1), Serbia (5) 5 Observer: EU(2: JRC, ICPDR), Germany (3) Duration of the Project: 5/2009 – 4/2012 Budget: 6,4 Mio €

7. Helmut Habersack Objectives of Danube Floodrisk:  Creation of a common understanding of the EU Floods-Directive.  Harmonisation of methods and data in order to create transnational floodrisk maps for the Danube River („Danube- Atlas“)  The Danube Floodrisk project focuses on the most cost- effective measures for flood risk reduction by strenghtening the international cooperation along the Danube River.  The results of the transnational floodrisk research are strongly stakeholder-oriented and provide valuable information for spatial planning and economy.

8. Helmut Habersack PLATINA is a project within NAIADES Naiades (Navigation and Inland Waterway Action and Development in Europe) was launched as a multi- annual action programme of the EU in 2006. The programme’s objective is an eco-friendly and efficient transport policy in Europe. Project Partners: 22 partners from 9 different countries Website: http://naiades.info/platina

9. Helmut Habersack Objectives of PLATINA: PLATINA provides a flexible platform that can react to emerging policy needs in the field of inland waterway transport. PLATINA brings together all the relevant actors in the inland waterway sector of the Pan European Transport Corridor VII (the Danube) in a multi-disciplinary knowledge network. The European added value of PLATINA is the creation of synergies at the European level through networking and knowledge exchange.

10. Helmut Habersack International Conference on the Status and Future of the World‘s Large Rivers 11-14 April 2011 Vienna, Austria Austria Center Vienna – ACV Website: http://worldslargerivers.boku.ac.at E-mail: worldslargerivers@boku.ac.at

11. Helmut Habersack DanubeCongoYangtzeMississippiAmazonMurray Topic 1 - Hydrology, Hydraulics & Water Quality 1a. Hydrology & Hydraulics 1b. Water Quality Topic 2 - Sediment Transport, Material Fluxes & River Morphology 2a. Sediment Transport & Material Fluxes 2b. River Morphology & Morphodynamics Topic 3 - Ecology & Restoration 3a. Ecology 3b. Restoration Topic 4 - Stresses, conflicting demands and integrated management 4a. Land Use, Population Growth, Climate Change 4b. Hydropower, Navigation, Flood Control & Protection, Water Resources & Irrigation, Gravel & Sand Mining 4c. Integrated management Deadline for abstract submission: 27 th August 2010 http://worldslargerivers.boku.ac.at International Conference on the Status and Future of the World‘s Large Rivers