CENN hosted international experts together with the National Environmental Agency (NEA)

From April 3-8, 2024, CENN and the NEA hosted representatives of the Delft Institute of Water Education (IHE Delft).

The purpose of the visit was to assess the progress and plan the next steps to develop a drought and seasonal streamflow prediction system in the Alazani-Iori River basins. Within the framework of the visit, the project team held intensive meetings with the Georgian Amelioration, Rural Development Agency, UNDP-supported “Reducing The Risk Of Climate-Driven Disasters In Georgia” programme representatives and the members of the Alazani multi-actor platform (MAP) to discuss their needs challenges related to the droughts and water scarcity.  

Apart from the stakeholder meetings, IHE Delft representatives conducted a seminar “Managing Drought in a Changing Climate” at Ilia State University attended by the students of different universities in Georgia.

Within the framework of the visit, an action plan has been prepared, according to which CENN, together with the NEA, with the involvement of stakeholders, will continue working on the development of the drought and seasonal streamflow prediction system. Experts from member organizations of the project consortium will also support the work process.

The visit took place within the Innovating Climate Services through Integrating Scientific and Local Knowledge (I-CISK) project, financially supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. The project is being implemented by the Institute for Water Education (IHE Delft) together with a consortium of 13 member organizations.

The main objective of the I-CISK project is to develop next-generation CS that follows a social and behaviourally-informed approach for co-producing CS that meets the climate information needs of citizens, decision-makers and stakeholders at the spatial and temporal scale relevant to them.

CENN has represented the project in Georgia since 2021. The National Environmental Agency is the main partner of CENN in the project.