Project Details

Project goal

For the Volga basin, environmental risk management is fundamental for protecting the environment, improving socio-economic conditions and promoting agricultural and industrial economies as well as the health of the Caspian Sea. Existing problems in governance and institutional performance, deficiencies in civil society involvement as well as low levels of cooperation between academic and policymaking institutions have led to a situation of significant ecologic, social and economic risks in the basin.

Strategic objectives

CABRI-Volga was an important project in support of the European Union's international cooperation goals. It has fulfilled its strategic objectives:

• To mobilise people and institutions to cooperate internationally
• To strengthen links between scientific community, policy-makers, and society
• To follow an integrative approach for environmental risk reduction & sustainable river basin management
• To contribute to scientific cooperation and experience exchange on policies
• To promote environmental and human security in Russia/NIS and in the EU

Results

CABRI-Volga gained wide recognition within Russia and Europe-wide, for example by:

• Presenting its policy recommendations at an informative meeting in the Russian State Duma as well as during a Policy Roundtable in Moscow in February 2007;
  
  
• Being featured in seven languages on the science and resaearch programme of Europe's leading news channel <link http: www.youtube.com>"EuroNews" in July 2007.

Tangible project outputs include networks of experts and stakeholders both on the national (Russian) and international level as well as several reports, available in the download section of this page.

Project partners

• Rupprecht Consult GmbH, Cologne, Germany
• Ecopolicy, Environmental Policy Research and Consulting Center, Moscow, Russia
• UNESCO Moscow Office, Moscow, Russia
• Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
• Saratov State Socio-Economic University, Saratov, Russia
• Caspian Marine Scientific and Research Centre, Astrakhan, Russia
• Autonomous Non-Commercial Organisation (ANO), Institute of Environmental Economics and Nature Resources Accounting “Cadaster“,, Yaroslavl, Russia
• Ecological Projects Consulting Institute, Moscow, Russia
• Open Joint-Stock Company “Ammophos“, Cherepovets, Russia
• United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan
• Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, UNESCO Chair/ INWEB, Thessaloniki, Greece
• Centro di Cultura Scientifica “Alessandro Volta“, Como, Italy
• University of Karlsruhe, Institute for Water Resource Management, Hydrologic and Rural Engineering, Karlsruhe, Germany
• CNR - Compagnie Nationale du Rhône, Lyon, France
• Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe, REC, Szentendre, Hungary
• International Ocean Institute, Malta