The 5th UNESCO Training Course for Sustainable Water Management, hosted by the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Water Management (Prof. W.F .Geiger) was organized as a twin event together with the Final Symposium of the IWRM China project Overall-Effective Measures for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Coastal Area of Shandong Province, PR China end of April in Yantai.
Under the heading Approaches for Integrated Water Resources Management in Coastal Regions, Chinese and German IWRM project partners and other experts from both countries gave lectures and presentations in sessions on individual topics. Apart from specialists of various provincial and local authorities, research institutes and universities, the event was attended by students. After opening speeches by UNESCO and project representatives and members Shandong Province´s government, keynote addresses were given on water policies in China and the EU, the latter with special focus on EU Water Framework and Flood Directives. The sessions were followed by a panel discussion and dealt with the following issues in relation to sustainable water resources management:
• Decision processes and criteria
• Decision making processes
• Technical and socio-economic measures for remediation of water resources
• Simulation models.
One special highlight among the project-related contributions was the introduction of the innovative multi-stage decision support system. Using sophisticated methodology and a comprehensive catalogue of measures, diverse water use scenarios can be calculated applying varied framework conditions and combinations of measures which can be narrowed down, evaluated and compared with each other according to the priorities set in the criteria. The process of selecting relevant socio-economic criteria was explained, as was the coupling of the hydrogeological models with GIS and their integration in the DSS. Pilot facilities for water saving in agriculture and in urban areas were introduced, as well as the monitoring equipment installed to detect saltwater intrusion. Topped by a field trip to demonstration sites in the project region well-organized by the Chinese partners, the joint German-Chinese project´s informative twin event came to a very satisfactory end on the third day.
Proceedings are available on the project website (http://dhi-wasy.eu/shandong.html -> Publications).