TWG on Freshwater

Objectives

Fresh water is a vital element influencing the economies and social structure, of the Central and Eastern European countries; The BIOEAST Initiative of Central and Eastern European countries defined fresh water as an important thematic area and the Thematic Working Group Fresh Water Based Bioeconomy was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic in 2020.

This Thematic Working Group is working on 11 countries priorities concerning the fresh water-based bioeconomy, and specifically on research and innovation agendas and from the very beginning members of the TWG Fresh Water BBE has been discussing priorities concerning the fresh water-based bioeconomy in the BIOEAST macro-region.

Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA)

This TWG is responsible for developing and updating its thematic Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA). This document serves as the roadmap for regional research, aligning macro-regional priorities with national bioeconomy Action Plans.

The TWG recommends prioritising sustainable freshwater management, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity protection, climate resilience, circular bioeconomy approaches, and cross-sector research and innovation to support healthy aquatic ecosystems and sustainable resource use in the BIOEAST region.

Key activities

The activities of this TWG are centred around the following research and innovation pillars:

Aerial drone view of rough sea at Argentiera, Sardinia, empty coastal landscape with no people

Highlights and achievements

Winter–Spring 2020 / Mapping national priorities
Dec 2021 / Informal meeting with the representative of the EU Mission: To Restore our Oceans and Waters by 2030, in support of the implementation of the Danube Lighthouse & organisation of a dedicated conference during the Czech Presidency of the EU
March 2022 / Thematic Study of the BIOEAST macro-region developed with the support of the BIOEASTsUP
Spring 2022 / BIOEAST HUB CR | SAVE THE DATE – SUB-REGIONAL WORKSHOPS IN LJUBLJANA, TARTU AND WARSAW FOR THE VALIDATION OF THE BIOEAST STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION AGENDA
Summer 2022 / Mapping of TWG members’ priorities
December 2022 / High-Level Conference involving the BIOEAST Initiative in the implementation of the EU Mission: To Restore Our Oceans and Waters by 2030, Preparing the Danube Lighthouse was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Czech Republic
January 2023 / 1st Thematic SRIA was finalised
March 2024 / 1st Freshwater Net Clustering Event & launch of the freshwater related project network & Budapest Conference
May 2024 / BIOEAST Manifesto
June 2024 / EU Elections
July 2024 / High-level conference “Partnering for the Future”, under the auspices of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU – Freshwater: The Key Link Between Water and Climate Challenges
Update of the Thematic SRIA
December 2024 / High-Level EU Conference “Partnering for the Future: BIOEAST and Beyond” WATER-SOIL-CLIMATE NEXUS RESONATES BEYOND THE BIOEAST MACRO-REGION & Policy Expert Dialogue SOLUTIONS FOR FRESHWATER-BASED BIOECONOMY AMIDST RISING CLIMATE CHALLENGES
Feedback on the Call for Evidence – European Water Resilience Strategy
March 2025 / 2nd FreshwaterNet Clustering Event during the Ocean & Water Week in Brussels
April 2025 / High Level Groups EU Policy Innovation – Towards a Comprehensive NEXUS Water Strategy & Feedback on the Call for Evidence – A strategy for European Life Sciences
May 2025 / CGIAR Global Science Week CENTRAL EUROPE’S ROLE IN WATER & SOIL MANAGEMENT SPOTLIGHTED
June 2025 / High-level conference Research, Innovation and Digitalisation to Advance the Competitiveness of European Agriculture and Ensure Food Security under the auspices of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU FRESHWATER AT THE CORE: ADVANCING THE BIOEAST VISION THROUGH STRATEGIC R&I COLLABORATION – Feedback on the Call for Evidence – Towards a Circular, Regenerative and Competitive Bioeconomy
January 2026 / Policy Expert Discussion on new bioeconomy strategy – Updating Thematic SRIA as an input for BIOEAST SRIA

Resources and library

Explore the key documents and research outputs from our working group.

Knowledge platform

Looking for specific data, policy papers, or case studies related to Working Groups? The BIOEAST Knowledge Platform is our multilingual library for the macro-region. It hosts an expanded collection of resources designed to help you implement bioeconomy solutions in Central and Eastern Europe.

Discover more

TWG members

Discover the experts driving bioeconomy innovation in the TWG on Freshwater.

Agnes Tahy

General Directorate of Water Management, Hungary

Agnieszka Napiórkowska-Krzebietke

Institute of Inland Fisheries

Alena Vlašić

Croatian Waters

Amelia Rus

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania

Béla Halasi-Kovács

Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science, HU

Jolita Neciuniene

Ministry of Agriculture of Lithuania

Katrin Kaldre

University of Life Science, Estonia

Katrina Lang

Ministry of Climate of Estonia

Kravcik Michal

People and Water, Slovakia

Lakatos Boglarka

Climate and Environmental Research Department, Hungary

Martin Kováč

National Trust, Slovakia

Peter Gabriš

People and Water, Slovakia

Péter Lengyel

Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary

Sandi Orlić

Division of Materials Chemistry, Ruđer Bošković Institute

Vesna Nešković

Faculty of Agriculture, University of Novi Sad, Serbia

Viktória Csizmadiáné Czuppon

Soós Ernő Research and Development Center, University of Pannonia

Zita Zrinyi

Soós Ernő Research and Development Center, University of Pannonia

Zoltán Palotai

Hungarian Innovation Agency

Štejnarová Šárka

Ministry of Agriculture of Czech Republic