Program
The project aims primarily at transferring methodologies for environmental analysis and assessment, in line with the most recent European normative, to help the Central Research Institute for Complex Use of Water Resources in elaborating integrated water resources management (IWRM) plans in the northern region of Belarus. The main activities will involve training courses for scientists, elaboration of case study, meetings between partners, dissemination of activities results, described as follows.
Activity 1:
Project start Action 1.1: Kick-off meeting. The preliminary actions will be dedicated
to the preparation of the first meeting between the UNITS and the CRICUWR teams,
which will be held at the Belarus institution in the early stages of the project
/within the first two months). The meeting will be focused on (i) definition of
the main environmental questions concerning IWRM at national and regional scale
in Belarus, and selection of a proper case study area, (ii) definition of the essential
needed variables and data sets for the elaboration of the case study (physical,
environmental, socio-economical), evaluating the availability of data sources and
the respective responsibilities for the data acquisition, (iii) discussion on the
main issues to be covered during the training course, the target people, the preliminary
schedule and the lecturers. Tasks: UNITS will carry out all the administrative obligations
(contractual) for the formal start of the project; CRICUWR will organise the meeting
at its headquarters. UNITS will also launch a dedicated web site of the project,
which will be hosted at its server facilities and regularly updated.
Deliverables: (D1) meeting report with all the technical specifications above described,
to be done by UNITS.
Activity 2:
Training course Action 2.1: Preparation of the course. The training course program
for scientists (trainers), technicians, operators to be held in Belarus will be
prepared. It will concern advanced methods for environmental management, as decision
support systems (DSS) based on multi-criteria techniques, DPSIR scheme indicators
(driving force-pressure-impact-response), environmental statistics and numerical
modelling, remote-sensing and GIS techniques applied to spatial DSS. Tasks: UNITS
will prepare the program course based on the information and the feedback from the
kick-off meeting, and will prepare the related material (lectures, data, case-study
examples). UNITS will also provide to invite some external experts to give lectures
on specific issues of interest for IWRM. They will be invited based on the relationships
and long-gone experience developed by UNITS in international projects during last
years with relevant institutions (for example, from the Mihajlo Pupin Institute
of Belgrade, Serbia; the Mediterranean Agronomic Institutes of China, Greece, and
of Bari, Italy). CRICUWR will cover all the organisation of the course at its headquarters,
will diffuse the news on the training course to the Belarusian authorities, institutions
and organisations interested, and will select and invite people to participate to
the course. Deliverables: (D2) Program of the training course. Action 2.2: Holding
the course. The course will be held at about 6 months form the project start for
the duration of one week (5 working days) and will be dedicated to 15-20 people
(estimated). The course will cover theoretical lessons alternated with case-study
examples and practical exercises. A special open session will be dedicated to discuss
questions raised by the participants, giving them the possibility to define and
start proper application based on local environmental needs. Tasks. UNITS members
will hold lectures and exercises, together with invited external experts. CRICUWR
will organise the training course site and will contribute to prepare issues for
local applications. Upon possibility, CRICUWR could organise a 1-day visit tour
to a local case-study area.
Deliverables: (D3) training material (presentations, data, case-study examples)
prepared and distributed by UNITS on CD and web site.
Activity 3:
Application of methods for IWRM Action 3.1: Data sets acquisition. Parallel with
the training course preparation, the basic data sets/ parameters and information
selected by partners in A1.1 will be progressively acquired for the selected case-study
area. They will consist of spatial information (maps, satellite imagery) concerning
the geographical and physical characteristics of the area (physical/administrative
boundaries, digital terrain model, land cover and land use, water bodies network,
infrastructures, etc.), environmental parameters (climate, soil / water characteristics),
ecological components (vegetation and animal communities), human components (demography,
economic activities, etc.). Tasks: UNITS will provide spatial data as geo-databases
and satellite imagery from the network sources; CRICUWR will provide all the territorial
data from local sources, databases, official reports and maps. All data and information
collected by partners will be arranged in a common database for the purposes of
the case study elaboration. It is expected to acquire all the necessary data after
about 3 months from the kick-off meeting. Deliverables: (D4) Detailed list of all
the collected data and information, availability, spatial / time coverage, format,
etc. (meta-database). Action 3.2: Elaboration of the case study. This will be done
through the analysis and application of DSS and spatial DSS for viable alternatives
of IWRM in the Belarus. The exchange of knowledge achieved between partners will
lead to (i) definition of alternative options of IWRM in the selected case study
area; (ii) attribution of scores and weights to the selected variables/ parameters
describing the different alternative options, which will be made by means of statistical
estimation, models applications, knowledge of local experts; (iii) application of
multi-criteria numerical techniques (DSS) for the assessment of the best alternative
options for IWRM; (iv) application of spatial DSS for the assessment of the spatial
distribution of the management options, i.e. the best management option for a given
area and/or the most suitable area(s) for a given management option. The results
will consist of a scheme of combined ranked options lists and suitability maps.
It is estimated to complete the case study elaboration after 9 months from the beginning
of the project. Tasks: CRICUWR will provide the baseline information on the feasible
alternative options of IWRM to be analysed; UNITS will process data and elaborate
the DSS / SDSS case study applications.
Deliverables: (D5) Case study report, elaborated by UNITS with feedback from CRICUWR,
containing the methodological description, analysis of DSS / SDSS, multi-criteria
tables and options ranking, suitability maps for the best ranked options.
Activity 4:
Finalisation and follow-up Action 4.1: Final meeting. This will be held at CRICUWR
headquarters after the completion of the case study report, and will be dedicated
to (i) discuss and analyse the findings of the case study elaboration, (ii) discuss
the content and the format of the final working document, to be delivered to the
Government of Belarus (iii) setting-up the basis for a permanent partnership and
future common actions. This will be particularly addressed to plan both research
projects (e.g. in FP7 of the European Commission), envisaging the involvement of
other Central-Eastern European partners, with special attention to non EU Countries,
and application projects for areas restoration or water management (e.g. in the
frame of Life+ or Europe Aid tenders/grant schemes). Tasks: UNITS and CRICUWR to
analyse jointly the case study results and to produce proposals for follow-up; no
deliverables provided at this stage. Action 4.2. Elaboration of the final document.
Finalisation of the case study and of the overall project will be given by a working
document, jointly elaborated by UNITS and CRICUWR, consisting of the analysis of
alternative scenarios examined and of guidelines and proposals for drafting environmental
plans for IWRM in Belarus. This will represent the final act of the project and
will be completed within 12 months from the beginning of the project and delivered
to the Belarus Government. Tasks: CRICUWR will produce the final working document
with assistance and feedback of UNITS; UNITS will produce the final administrative
reports (technical / financial) for CEI. CRICUWR will also commit to diffuse the
project findings and to raise interest at national level for the potential applications
deriving from the acquired knowledge. Deliverables: (D6) Final working document,
containing analysis, guidelines, recommendations and proposals on IWRM in Belarus,
addressed to the administrative and legislative bodies of the Belarus Republic.
(D7) Final reports (technical / financial) to be released by UNITS to CEI.