The Conference was held on September 22, 2011 in Belgrade, in cooperation with the European Center for Peace and Development (ECPD). The Conference constituted the first part of the 22nd Conference “Danube – River of Cooperation” and also marking the World Rivers Day.
Over the years the International Scientific Forum “Danube – River of Cooperation” continuously advocated for regional cooperation aimed at sustainable development in the Danube Basin. The idea that international cooperation is the only viable path to survival and comprehensive development of all communities in the Danube Basin – gets the chance for realization by the adoption of the Danube Strategy of the European Union. The goal of the Danube strategy is to facilitate a competitive and sustainable region of the Danube Basin, indicating the Danube and its tributaries as the basis of regional cooperation.
At the same time, elaboration and achievement of the objectives of the Danube Strategy could serve in the future as a good example of regional cooperation in other river basins of the world. On the other hand, experience in the field of environmental protection on other large rivers of the world may be useful in the process of achieving the goals of environmental protection in the Danube River Basin. Having that in mind, the was devoted to World Rivers Day, and to presenting the priorities of the Danube strategy relating to environmental protection and to promotion of related projects.
The Conference was opened by Academic Professor Dr. Ljubiša Adamović who spoke in the name of Prof. Dr. Negoslav P. Ostojić, director of the ECPD, the host organization. His speech was followed by Dr. Snežana Filipović, Minister Plenipotentiary, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Dragan Stefanović, MSc, from Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, Association Secretary of Transport and Telecommunications. On the objectives of the conference spoke Edita Stojić – Karanović, Research Professor and President of the International Scientific Forum “Danube – River of Cooperation”.
The following presentations were also given:
- ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS OF THE DIRECTORATE FOR WATER OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA, by Dragana Milovanović, Head of Department for Strategic Planning and Management and International Cooperation in the Field of Water, Serbia
- STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITIES OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA FOR THE ABSORPTION OF EU RURAL DEVELOPMENT FUNDS IN PRE-ACCESSION PERIOD (Focusing on Environmental Protection Issues), exposé by Dr. Zoltán Kiss, European Union Adviser (RTA for Twinning Project)
- REGIONAL PROJECT OF RECONSTRUCTION OF WATER TRANSPORT IN THE CENTRAL BASIN OF THE DANUBE, by Sándor Götz, author of the Poject “Duna-Express” of the Hungarian Association of spatial planners
- SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN MICRO-REGION OF THE ORLOVAT-TAMIŠ WATERWAY, by Dr. Stevan Prohaska president of the Citizens’ Association of Orlovat, research professor at the Institute for water-management “Jaroslav Černi”, Serbia
- THE ROLE OF BAVARIAN NGO’S IN PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT ALONG THE RIVER DANUBE AS PART OF THE PROJECTS OF THE DANUBE STRATEGY, by Krisztina Kőműves and András Mérei, Doctoral students at University of Pecs, Hungary
- BELGRADE PERSPECTIVE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE, PROJECT OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC FORUM “DANUBE – RIVER OF COOPERATION”, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SOME ECONOMIC SECTORS AND BRANCHES, Edita Stojić Karanović, Research Professor, Prof. Dr. Branislav Djordjevic, Prof. Dr. Jovan Bojkovski and Dragoslav Djordjević, Serbia
- CREATING RESILIENCE OF LANDSCAPES AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE, by Ildikó Arany, coordinator of the project of the Central and East European Working Group for Biodiversity (CEEweb).
