The 6th GEF Biennial International Waters (IW) Conference, hosted by the GEF and the Government of Croatia, took place in Dubrovnik from 17-20 October, 2011.  Special technical workshops for GEF IW project managers, country counterparts, and agency staff were held prior to the conference on 15-16 October. The Gala Dinner Celebrating 20 Years of GEF Transboundary Water Results occurred the evening of 19 October with Andre serving as master of ceremonies. This was the largest IW conference yet with 328 participants from 71 different GEF IW projects.

The Sixth GEF Biennial IW Conference, as with prior GEF IW portfolio conferences, is a signature learning event for country officials, partners, and GEF agencies for the GEF IW focal area. While it serves as the equivalent of a “conference of the parties” in other GEF focal areas, it is an active training and experience-sharing event designed to build a “community of practice” among similar types of IW projects. Such face-to-face meetings are critical elements of the GEF IW KM strategy in fostering South-to-South learning. The general objective of the biennial IW portfolio conferences is to facilitate cross-sectoral and portfolio-wide learning & experience sharing. The participants reviewed progress achieved in their projects, discussed challenges with similar projects, and provided feedback to GEF and GEF agencies on burning issues of importance to the projects. This conference, coinciding with the 20^th anniversary of GEF, included celebrations of the hard work accomplished by the countries and the agencies over the first two decades of GEF.

Pre-Conference Technical Workshops - October 15-16, 2011

Targeted workshops were held on October 15-16 for GEF IW project managers and agency staff on project management, legal & institutional frameworks and revisions to the training methodology for Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis/Strategic Action Programme development.

Conference Day 1 – October 17, 2011

 Each day at the IWC starts with a short video in plenary. The first day started off with a curtain raising video reminding participants of the last IWC, showing set-up of the Innovation Marketplace project exhibits and pre-conference tech workshops as well as interviews with participants on their expectations for the conference. Andre served very ably as the master of ceremonies for the opening plenary session. The session included a welcome from the host government, the mayor of Dubrovnik, and keynotes from the government of Germany (as a long-time GEF UIW partner) and by Andre on behalf of the CEO. Andre delivered remarks on “raising the bar” in improving quality and reporting results.  This was followed by Al Duda’s address to the portfolio that focused on results, results, results, and better communication of those project results.

A subsequent plenary session featured host projects from the Adriatic and Mediterranean regions outlining their achievements and results. Following lunch, a highly interactive break-out session (small table dialogues/world café style) was scheduled in which participants discussed their project results, challenges and ultimate achievements. This was a very successful session that brought people together to share experiences and comment on each other’s projects.

Day 1 was rounded off with a lighter learning activity, a game show, which brought many smiles to the faces of participants and filled the room with laughter. This was the third IWC in which a game show format was used to bring issues to the attention of participants. Many GEF IW projects produce videos, which are available on the GEF IW:LEARN website (www.iwlearn.net). As with past IW conferences, screening of a number of new project videos attracted participants along with the launch of a first IPAD app for knowledge sharing developed by the MED partnership.  

Conference Day 2 – October 18, 2011

Day 2 consisted of alternative GEF IW project site visits with options including: coastal, surface freshwater, aquifer, and watershed (lake) management projects. The visits are designed for people to interact informally whether on buses or boats and learn about specific IW projects with their local innovations and best practices. Shared experiences go a long way in breaking down barriers. The projects included World Bank and UNDP IW operations related to transboundary management and were located fairly close on the border of 3 countries: Croatia, Boznia Herzegovina, and Montenegro.  This created complexity for procuring visas, but UNOPS assistance helped greatly.

The Technical field trips were rated as a success, and participants had a number of unique experiences and time to interact and reflect upon what they saw and learned.   

Conference day 3 – October 19, 2011

The video summary from Day 2 was first on the agenda to start the Day 3 plenary. After a welcoming flashback of the previous day’s experiences and cultural exchange, the third day of the conference was kicked off with a session reporting back from the round tables on main achievements and results of initial 20 years of GEF IW investments, including challenges projects faced for the future of GEF IW, a summary will be produced. A session on updates from the GEF was followed by a strong panel of private sector participants, which reflected upon previous successes and how GEF IW projects can work with the business community in the process of reaching resource sustainability. During the afternoon the launch of the STAP publication on Hypoxia and a concurrent roundtable session on freshwater and marine joint commissions competed for participants’ attention.  The 20^th anniversary gala reception and dinner was held at a special historic site in downtown Dubrovnik known as the Revelin Fortress.  Andre once again served as the master of ceremonies, and as such, introduced several speakers from the private sector, UNESCO, and the Prefect of Dubrovnik.  Andre capped off the night with some inspiring remarks for the participants gathered to celebrate our 20^th anniversary.  

Conference Day 4 – October 20, 2011

Following the viewing of the “Reflections Video” from Day 3, participants broke into 5 concurrent sessions for participant-led workshops.  These concurrent workshops are smaller sessions where projects group themselves together beforehand and lead discussions on key topics of interest to the portfolio so people can share their experiences and have more open exchanges. In evaluations of previous IW conferences, these participant-led workshops are often highly spoken of and also very well attended. We find people like to interact and speak up in such smaller sessions, and GEFSEC staff find themselves rushing from one to another to catch some of the discussions.

The afternoon consisted of the official closing of the conference, where a panel of representatives from different stakeholder groups reflected and commented upon videos that were shown of comments of project managers and country officials. Chaired capably by Ivan, this session focused on the main results of 20 years of GEF IW investments as well as future challenges. Various awards are presented at each IW conference for the best exhibit in the Innovation Marketplace and for best GEF IW website. 

Conference evaluations were made available at the venue and were also emailed to all participants following its conclusion. This information is currently being analyzed and will be made available on the IW:LEARN website. Initial analysis shows the highest level of evaluation feedback (with roughly a third reporting) and the highest overall satisfaction rating compared to previous IWCs (4.4 out of 5.0).