A new Triangular Cooperation Alliance for shared management of water basins
05 December 2022
The Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), The Autonomous Binational Authority of the Lake Titicaca (ALT) and the Congress of Mayors of Uruguay organised a study visit to different European border regions. The three organisations created a Triangular Cooperation Alliance with the support of the European Union Adelante program to encourage the exchange of experiences on governance and cross-border development of international water basins.
Participants to the study visit
Local, national, and binational authorities from five South American countries took part in the study visit between 23 to 30 November. They learned about cross-border cooperation structures and economic, environmental and gender projects in the Rhine, Minho and Guadiana river basins.
Members of the Triangular Cooperation Alliance and other partner institutions organised three seminars, various institutional meetings and more than a dozen presentations on cross-border experiences. Thus, The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine River, formed by nine countries, organised a seminar at their headquarters in Koblenz (Germany) about environmental preservation with a cross-border approach. European experts and representatives of basin management institutions from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay attended the event.
Another cooperation organisation that hosted the delegation was the Minho EGTC, integrated by 26 municipalities from Spain and Portugal. Mayors from different cities of Galicia and Northern Portugal that are members of the Minho EGTC held working meetings with mayors and government representatives of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. They all signed a collaboration agreement to develop actions to transfer experiences related to local cross-border development. Likewise, with the support of border universities, they analysed the innovation and territorial development strategies of the Minho and Uruguay river basins.
Finally, representatives of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) and the Brazilian, Bolivian and Peruvian authorities met with the Cross-border Association of Municipalities of the Alqueva Lake (ATLA), located in the southern part of the Spanish-Portuguese border. The municipalities along the lake shores organised a seminar where they presented tourism and environmental projects and discussed a cooperation strategy with the local authorities of Titicaca. In addition, the South American delegation held institutional meetings with the regional governments of Alentejo (Portugal) and Extremadura (Spain).
Video-interviews to the participants can be found here (in Portuguese and Spanish).
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