Following successful national workshops in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, as part of the Interreg project WACOM DTP - Water Emergency Management in the Sava River Basin - on 27 May 2021 a national workshop for Slovenian stakeholders was organized by Slovenian project partners (University of Ljubljana - Lead Partner, Hydroelectric Power Plants on the Lower Sava and the Water Directorate of the Republic of Slovenia). The workshop was held through the online platform ZOOM, and was attended by more than 70 participants from 40 institutions. At the workshop an analysis of the current state of preparedness for response and disaster management in the event of extraordinary pollution of watercourses and floods in Slovenia was presented.

At the beginning, the representative of the Water Directorate of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms Suzana Stražar, greeted the participants. She stressed that the Water Directorate of the Republic of Slovenia, as a project partner, strongly supported the objectives of the project because only the coordinated action among stakeholders could bring the best results in the event of emergencies. The participants were also greeted by a representative of the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Mr Mitja Bricelj, PhD, who, as a long-term member of the International Sava River Basin Commission, presented its development and the importance of international cooperation. He welcomed the efforts of the WACOM project and called the participants to use the results of the project to be more efficient at their work.

In the first part of the workshop, an analysis of the current state of preparedness for response and disaster management in the event of extraordinary pollution of watercourses and floods in Slovenia was presented. It was presented by: Mr Primož Banovec, PhD, (Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Ljubljana), Ms Alenka Kotar (Water Directorate of the Republic of Slovenia), Mr Alen Lazič (Hydroelectric Power Plants on the Lower Sava) and Ms Mirjana Fesel (VGP Drava Ptuj). The response of relevant actors, civil protection and water managers was also analyzed and after initial presentations the participants were divided into groups to discuss on the presented analysis.

In the second part of the workshop, Mr Primož Banovec presented the system for information exchange and coordination of stakeholders in emergency situations (Incident Command System - ICS). The particular emphasis was placed on standardized information elements: Intervention Organization Scheme (ICS 207), Intervention Summary (ICS 209) and Response Implementation Plan. These elements would be proposed by the WACOM project for better cooperation. After the presentation, the participants were divided into groups to discuss on the applicability of the presented system in Slovenia and the adequacy of the proposal for information exchange during the intervention.

The participants expressed a positive opinion on the presented system for information exchange and stakeholder coordination in general. They also praised the extensive analysis of the current situation and welcomed the project's objectives to improve cross-border, coordinated action in the event of accident pollution and floods in the Sava River Basin. They expressed their willingness to monitor the project and its results also in the future.

At the end, the participants of the workshop were greeted by Mr Bricelj. He asked the participants to monitor the project and its results, not for the reason of changing the existing ways of working, but to strengthen and improve the existing procedures. The participants were invited to participate in future workshops by Mr Banovec.

The presentations of the workshop are available on following links:

Project WACOM (Mr Banovec), ISRBC activities (Mr Grošelj), Situation on flood and emergency management in SI (Ms Kotar, Mr Božiček, Ms Fesel), ICS (Mr Banovec).

The press release of the workshop in Slovene is available here.