International Workshop on Groundwater Systems in Europe

Imagen

On the occasion of the completion of the "International Hydrogeological Map of Europe" (IHME) the International Workshop on Groundwater Systems in Europe will take place in Berlin on 22 and 23 August 2013.

The Workshop is organised jointly by The Geological Surveys of Europe (EuroGeoSurveys), the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in association with the European Topic Centre on Inland, Coastal and Marine Waters (ETC/ICM), the Commission for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW), the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) and the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC). The workshop will discuss the following themes:

  • methods and approaches of characterization, classification and delineation of groundwater systems in Europe, including transboundary aquifer systems;
  • significance of the hydrogeological background and natural groundwater flow systems in river basin management, modeling and decision support systems;
  • challenges and opportunities for harmonized data handling in Europe for natural resources management and to sustain European land, water and soil policies;
  • needs and requirements for underpinning policy approaches by appropriate data, tools and information to bridge the gap between science and policy stakeholders.

Back-to-back to this Workshop, on 21 August 2013, UNESCO-IHP is organizing the TWAP Groundwater - Regional Component Europe first expert group meeting.  The expected output of that component of TWAP will be twofold: to delineate and assess 3-5 typical transboundary aquifers in EU countries, and make an assessment of transboundary aquifers in non-EU countries that are larger than 5,000 square km. The Berlin meeting will gather most members of the TWAP-Regional Component Europe expert group. The objective of the meeting is to agree on the methodology and timetable of the activities to be implemented.