The pilot project of the Resilient Borders initiative concluded with a climate adaptation conference: “Enhancing flood and drought resilience along the River Drava”
Governance + Planning + Policy-making | 14 October 2025
The pilot project of the Resilient Borders initiative concluded with a climate adaptation conference: “Enhancing flood and drought resilience along the River Drava”
Governance + Planning + Policy-making | 14 October 2025
The pilot project “Enhancing flood and drought resilience along the River Drava,” which was implemented as part of the Resilient Borders initiative, concluded with a climate adaptation conference. The international conference was held in Pécs on September 22, 2025, with nearly 60 participants, where two CESCI experts also gave presentations.
Resilient Borders is an initiative of the European Commission, launched in response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in cross-border regions. The program is managed by the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR) and Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT). In October 2024, the two organizations published a call for proposals for pilot actions in the field of cross-border spatial planning and coordinated responses to crises.
In the category of crisis management plans, support was granted to the Baranya County Local Government and Verőce-Drávamente County (Virovitičko-podravska županija) for their project entitled “Increasing flood and drought resilience along the Drava River.” The pilot project, launched in spring 2025, focused on developing an action plan that could serve as a basis for long-term cooperation on relevant regional climate challenges, focusing on floods, inland waters, local water damage, and extreme drought.
The partners involved a wide range of experts to ensure the success of the project. The Pannon European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) coordinated the technical and communication tasks, while Tamás Pataki and CESCI provided active support for the implementation of the project as external experts. It was of paramount importance that water management and disaster management experts from the region were involved in the development of the action plan. A total of six expert workshops were held between the end of March and the beginning of September 2025, half of them online and half in person. The main objective of the workshops was to establish a common professional basis for the action plan, which was achieved through the clarification of topics, data collection, and the identification of best practices and possible solutions.
To conclude the professional work, a large-scale climate adaptation conference was held in Pécs on September 22, 2025. The international event, attended by nearly 60 people, involved a wide range of stakeholders (authorities, experts, local governments) in the discussion of water management issues along the Drava River.
After the ceremonial opening speeches, the professional program of the event continued with a block entitled “Challenges and Common Opportunities,” which provided an overview of the key issues of cross-border resilience building. In his video message, Martín Guillermo Ramírez (AEBR) presented the “Resilient Borders” initiative, which focuses on how EU border regions can become stronger and more resilient to crises. Dr. Judit Füzér (Pannon ETT) described the regional significance of the problem of flooding and drought along the Drava River, presenting the main elements and specific objectives of the pilot project. Participants also learned about good practices: expert Tamás Pataki used the example of a preparatory climate adaptation project aimed at utilizing water resources in the Upper Tisza region to show that, with the right cooperation, the Danube-Dráva region could also be capable of effective adaptation. At the end of the first professional block, Roland Hesz (CESCI) summarized the specific climatic challenges facing the region, based on the project’s research results.
The second block of the conference focused on climate risks and practical responses. Sara Klibert Pavić (Croatian Waters) presented the Croatian approach to water management and strategies in light of climate change. On the Hungarian side, Gábor Domján (Baranya County Disaster Management Directorate) gave an overview of how Hungarian disaster management is preparing for climate challenges. On the Croatian side, Časlav Sikora (Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS)) illustrated the challenges of disaster management tasks in the field, both verbally and in a short video compilation.
In the closing presentation of the event, Kitti Dubniczki (CESCI) presented the proposals of the action plan developed within the framework of the project in cooperation with water management and disaster management experts, which aimed to respond in a complex manner to water management issues with cross-border relevance arising from climate trends. Attendees had the opportunity to comment throughout the event, and many took advantage of this opportunity. Many welcomed the initiative and emphasized the importance of cooperation. However, with regard to proposals affecting the water management sector, the experts present emphasized the importance of taking into account the powers (competences) defined by legislation.
Our organization, CESCI, participated in the work as a professional supporter of the project. Our tasks included preparing and conducting workshops, developing professional content, and supporting the finalization of the action plan. Our colleagues participated in the conference as speakers, and after the event, it was possible to finalize the action plan developed as a result of the expert workshops, which provided the region with a concrete tool based on cross-border cooperation to address the effects of climate change.
