Healthy River – Healthy Me – Healthy Sea
2018 - 2020
CCB addressed common environmental challenges in six transboundary river basins within the Baltic Sea catchment by joint actions to improve public participation in management of shared watersheds to reach their Good Environmental Status.
OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
The project addressed common challenges (e.g. floods/drought, migration barriers, water quality) in six transboundary river basins within the Baltic Sea catchment (Nemunas, Daugava, Odra, Western Bug/Vistula, Narva, Pregolya) by joint actions to improve public participation in management of shared watersheds to reach their Good Environmental Status.
The project focused on:
- Introduction of integrated ecosystem health and source-to-sea thinking into RBM;
- Development and strengthening Public Advisory River Teams (PARTs) in Nemunas and Daugava basins and establishing new PARTs in Narva, Odra and Pregolya;
- Activating the role of NGOs in existing national, bi- and multilateral RBM bodies.
THE PROJECT IN A NUTSHELL
The project has evolved from already established river basin cooperation between several member organizations of CCB, who have been implementing public water monitoring under the umbrella of CCB’s River Watch campaign for almost 15 years. In 2017 this network has implemented NCM-supported “From River Watch to River Manage” project by engaging public into Integrated River Basin Management in the Eastern Baltic and also cooperated under the Plastic Free Baltic Project, funded by the Swedish Postcode Foundation, addressing sources, pathways and flows of microplastic pollution to the Baltic Sea. The concept of the project has been based on a follow-up of those two activities, but making both river basin management and microplastic pollution closer to understanding by ordinary people, through linking their health and wellbeing with state of surface waters and ultimately – with environmental conditions of the receiving water body – the Baltic Sea.
The project was coordinated with other CCB activities in the areas of river basin management and microplastic pollution and was jointly managed by the CCB Secretariat, CCB Working Area Leaders on River & Wastewater Management and Hazardous Substances and 11 active project partners.
The project has impacted children and young people through engaging them into volunteer work on public river monitoring (River Watch) and providing them with new capacities and knowledge on both general water protection issues (e.g. River University), as well as specific monitoring methodologies (riverine litter and biota contamination). The project further contributed to strengthening of the cooperation between the Nordic and Eastern Baltic environmental NGOs and as a result has enhanced their capacities and knowledge. Cooperation between organisations in Nordic countries, Eastern Baltic EU member states, Belarus and Russia increased the possibility to influence the development in the whole Baltic Sea Region in a more sustainable direction, and thereby creating a better environmental situation in the Nordic areas as well. Finally, through cooperation within the Baltic-wide and Sweden-based NGO network, the partners of the project were strengthened to communicate their standpoint at an intergovernmental level (HELCOM, EUSBSR).
PUBLICATIONS
Project's application
For more information:
CCB Secretariat: secretariat (at) ccb.se
This programme was funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.
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We continue to act, do you want to know more?
In 2020, we launched the annual event “River University“, with the aim to share experiences and knowldege, and to learn about peculiarities of different rivers in the Baltic Sea Region.