Partners
Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development (MoPARD)
The LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project was initially coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior, including the Ministry of Local Government. The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) was responsible for water management, water protection and disaster prevention, all of which are closely linked to climate change. Along these themes, the MOI has taken part in the implementation of many projects together with its background institutions.
During the monitoring of the projects dealing with local drinking water quality improvement the State Secretariat responsible for municipalities has established a well-functioning coordination platform – among others – with the participation of Hungarian local governments. Building on these experiences and the know-how of the LIFE-MICACC project implemented between 2017 and 2021, it intends to work together with Partners on the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project.
On 1th of January 2024, the Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development was newly established, of which the field of Hungarian local government became a part. The State Secretariat for municipalities and the Coordination Office for Municipalities operating as its main department, which is responsible for the coordination and professional implementation of several international projects, including the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project. The LIFE LOGOS4 WATERS project will continue to implement the tasks started in the Ministry of Interior under the aegis of the new Ministry in an unchanged manner.
The goal of the MoPARD is to contribute the strengthening the role of municipalities through the implementation of this project, given that well-organised, prepared and cooperating local governments are key in the effective implementation of national and EU policies, and in involving and addressing local stakeholders. The aim of the project is to draw the attention of decision-makers and experts of the Hungarian municipalities to the effects of climate change and the possibilities of adaptation. We wish to increase their knowledge on natural water retention measures (NWRM) and to encourage them to cooperate with other local governments and local stakeholders to achieve common goals. These important information and experiences can also reach the population through municipalities.
Within the framework of the project, the MoPARD as the Coordinating Beneficiary, brings together the entire partnership, plays a significant role in the communication activities related to the project, shares the project results and maintains direct contact with the relevant bodies of the European Commission. In addition, it promotes the widespread use of NWRMs at local, river basin and governmental level, and supports the involvement, awareness-raising and knowledge-building of the various disciplines involved in order to achieve the project’s objectives and long-term sustainability.
Further information (in Hungarian): https://kormany.hu/kozigazgatasi-es-teruletfejlesztesi-miniszterium
Within the Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development, the staff of the Coordination Office for Municipalities, the organizational unit of the State Secretariat responsible for Municipalities, is responsible for the professional implementation of the project, who can be found at the life@ktm.gov.hu email address, or at the contact details under Contacts.
Bátya
The Municipality of Bátya is located in the Great Plain, in the Kalocsa sub-region, Bács-Kiskun county. It has a permanent population of 2046. The municipality has a medium-level public service system. The municipality operates the kindergarten, health and social institutions, the library and the mayor’s office. There is a pharmacy, a general practitioner and a dentist in the settlement. In addition to the public service, eight NGOs are working for locals.
The municipality will be one of the two locations where we will create water retention measures at the catchment level as part of the project. It takes an active coordinating role in the establishment and operation of the Multi-stakeholder Catchment Forum, and participates in its preparation and implementation, which aims the integrated management of rainwater and water scarcity through the establishment of a wetland area. During the preparation, the municipality prepares technical plans and obtains permits with the help of the associated beneficiaries. The settlement participates in active communication of the results and sharing of the know-how.
The municipality is responsible for involving and coordinating additional local stakeholders in the area affected by the river basin project. It also has the task of establishing a partnership at river basin level to adapt to climate change. It plays an active role in defining the river basin district where proven measures can be extended and replicated. In the framework of capacity building, a full-time catchment coordinator and a part-time climate change adaptation (CCA) referent assist the work of the municipality.
More information about the Partner organization (in Hungarian): http://batya.hu
Association of Climate Friendly Municipalities (AoCFM)
The Association of Climate Friendly Municipalities was founded in 2009. It aims to reach out to all responsible mayors, municipal representatives and community leaders to equip them with the necessary tools, knowledge and assistance to implement successful climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, both at local and at regional level. The Association currently has more than 70 municipality members, from very small villages to the largest districts of the capital city, whose leadership, civil society actors and residents are committed to making their homes resilient and prepared for the effects of climate change.
Through regular meetings, conferences and workshops, the members have the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss steps and activities taken to address their unique climatic challenges. Cooperation and partnership with neighboring countries is an inevitable precondition for a successful strategy, especially in the field of water management. The Association also has members in cross-border regions, mostly in Hungarian-inhabited areas.
In the frame of the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project the main task of the Association is to promote the development of municipal networks, both nationally and internationally. In addition, the monitoring of the impacts of the project on social, economic and ecosystem services, as well as the management of the municipal support program and the river basin support program are also the responsibility of the organization.
More information about the Partner organization: https://klimabarat.hu/
Hungarian Chamber of Engineers (HCE)
The Hungarian Chamber of Engineers is a professional association founded on 1st January 1997. Its members are design engineers and experts. The chamber consists of 18 regional organizations and 21 professional departments. Within this organizational framework, it has more than 22,000 active engineering members in all areas of engineering activity.
The Chamber, as a public body, performs its statutory public tasks, assesses, authorizes and registers professional qualifications nationwide, participates in raising the professional and ethical standards of engineering, and in the development of technical regulations, standardization and quality assurance systems. In addition, it actively participates in the representation of the engineering profession and in professional collaborations, contributing to the high-quality realization of engineering facilities and the technical and financial success of projects.
Within the Chamber, the Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering Department coordinates and manages the professional tasks of water management at national level. The department is an active participant in the national water management public life, in the introduction of new innovative approaches in the course of engineering work, in everyday professional practice.
The Water Management and Hydraulic Engineering Department of the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers also participates in the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project as an engineering organization. In this way, it aims to contribute to the common professional thinking needed to come up with future solutions in the topic of water management that are most useful in the fields of water management, nature conservation, environmental protection, land use, landscaping and societal expectations. In addition to representing the engineering aspects and expectations during the project, we have the opportunity to learn about the criteria of other fields, through which we can transfer new solutions and visions to practicing engineers and to establish new professional collaborations.
By thinking together, you can create the best engineering works along common interests!
More information (in Hungarian): https://www.mmk.hu/
University of Public Service (UPS)
The “youngest” unit of the University of Public Administration is the Faculty of Water Science that started operating on 1st February 2017 in Baja. Thanks to the faculty’s legal predecessors, it has a history of more than fifty years. Water education in Baja is of national renown and significance, and is one of the most important supply bases in the sector. The Faculty, which provides undergraduate, masters and a number of specialized training courses, continues the nearly two-century-old tradition of engineering water management, which involves a huge amount of professional experience and knowledge.
Knowledge of engineering and water diplomacy is one of the most important values of the 21st century. However, our long-term goal goes beyond engineering training: we want to become a leading research and education center in the field of water management. With the exception of the master’s degree (Budapest), our courses are held in Baja, but other units of the University are also involved. Who has access to water is the expert of the future. With the involvement of the University, the Faculty will create a knowledge base with which we can provide excellent water management professionals for the Hungarian state and the companies involved in water management.
The Faculty of Water Sciences of the UPS also participates in the development and organization of trainings, the development of e-learning educational material, the organization of an international summer measurement camp and an international closing conference. With the implementation of the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project, the domestic and international relations system of the University will be strengthened, and the teaching staff and professional knowledge base of the Faculty of Water Science will be expanded by preparing educational material for municipalities and the experts of the water sector. The UPS has an important role in teaching the developed educational material, and in the development of a multidisciplinary subject program.
The aim of the Faculty of Water Science is to promote the results of the project, to share good practices for future engineers by implementing task-oriented individual and group exercises that can most effectively develop problem-solving skills and prepare future engineering societies for climate change adaptation. Furthermore, the implementation of the planned program elements aims to increase international visibility, develop students’ key competencies and transversal skills, and support practice-oriented training. The development of the latter will serve to adapt to the digital expectations of the future, which will contribute to sustainable growth potential, job creation and the effective strengthening of economic and social resilience through the renewal of training content.
More information about the Partner organization: https://en.uni-nke.hu/
General Directorate of Water Management (GDWM)
The General Directorate of Water Management is a central budgetary public body under the Minister responsible for the issue of water management. According to the current legislation in Hungary, water management issues fall within the competence of the Minister of the Interior. The GDWM, as a national competent body, supervises, coordinates and monitors the regional Water Directorates, which perform water licensing and supervision tasks as the territorial bodies of the GDWM.
GDWM’s professional activities are carried out through the cooperation of experts from various professions and technical fields, such as engineers, hydrologists, economists and IT experts.
One of our main tasks in the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project is to provide professional advice and support for the development of successful territorial interventions and for the training materials. The latter is extremely important for us, as future experts in the field will also play a key role in achieving the long-term water management goals. The preparation of the sample plan of the Integrated Municipal Water Management Plans at the river basin level and the methodological guide necessary for its preparation is another priority of the project. With these and the development of a monitoring system in the demonstration area we contribute to the professional implementation of the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project.
More information about the Partner organization: http://www.ovf.hu/en/
Püspökszilágy
The Municipality of Püspökszilágy is located in the Central Hungary region, in Pest County. It has a permanent population of 726. Over the past decade, the municipality submitted successfully a number of national and EU proposals, which gave the municipality extensive experience in project implementation and maintenance. The village put great emphasis on enforcing and ensuring the principles of sustainable development. The settlement has all public utility; they emphasize the implementation of practical measures for the utilization of renewable energy sources, the operation of a forest school, and environmentally conscious education.
The municipality has successfully completed the LIFE-MICACC project and still maintains its NWRM developments, which aims to retain water and sediment during sudden floods in smaller streams, combined with natural erosion control. The municipality is actively involved in communicating the results and sharing the know-how generated by the pilot project. The aim is to support the application of the tested NWRM prototype in other locations. The LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project serves for maintaining and transferring all these results.
The municipality is responsible for involving and coordinating additional local stakeholders in the other 8 municipalities in the river basin, and for establishing a partnership at river basin level to adapt to climate change. The municipality also employs a river basin coordinator and a climate change adaptation referent in order to achieve the goals set and to use the continuous application opportunities for the benefit of its own and neighboring municipalities in the river basin, in coordination with them.
More information about the Partner organization (in Hungarian): https://puspokszilagy.hu/
WWF World Wide Fund for Nature Hungary Foundation (WWF)
WWF is one of the largest well-known and respected independent environmental organizations in the world. Its mission is to stop the erosion of the planet’s natural environment and build a future where man lives in harmony with the environment, preserving biodiversity, using renewable energy for sustainability, by reducing pollution and wasteful consumption.
WWF opened its office in Hungary in 1991. The three main areas of WWF’s work in Hungary are the topic of clean water, forestry and climate change. Their main objectives include improving the national and EU legal, political and economic environment, conserving biodiversity and developing the sustainable use of natural resources.
WWF has provided professional input in the development of a number of domestic energy management and climate action plans. It has an extensive network of contacts, both domestically and internationally, with which it also supports the project. They also have previous experience with LIFE applications, which has helped to make the project a success from the outset.
Within the framework of the LIFE LOGOS 4 WATERS project, WWF’s goal is to spread a water retention-based water management approach and practice in Hungary, which helps to stop the drying up of the country, manage water risks and preserve biodiversity by using solutions that cooperate with nature. Their main tasks in the project are to organize international study trips, to facilitate experimental collaborations in small catchments for the joint application of water retention measures, and to monitor the results ecologically. They also have the main task of disseminating the experiences of the collaborations widely, environmental education and the national awareness-raising campaign.
More information about the Partner organization: https://wwf.hu/en/