Starting today, Belarus and the European Environment Agency water experts will hold a 2-day workshop, building capacity for developing water accounts in line with the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Water Framework that can support policy-making and implementation. The workshop kicks off an EU funded project focused on sharing environmental information, including water – a resource that is vital for all life on our planet, including ecosystems, society and the economy.

Good water management requires cooperation and sharing information among many stakeholders. Moreover, it is important to obtain relevant, reliable, robust and harmonized data that can be used to assess the state and pressure on the water resource.

With solid information it is possible to make sound and effective policies that support marine and freshwater ecosystems, serving many important functions from filtering, diluting and storing water to preventing floods, and from maintaining the climate balance to safeguarding biological diversity.