European Union support will help Armenia to have better access to information about water resources

Starting today, water experts from Armenia and European Environment Agency will hold 2-day online capacity development training for managing Eco Portal. The training will focus on sharing environmental information, including that on water —a resource that is vital for all lifeon our planet, ecosystems, society and the economy.This capacity building is in line with the EU’s objectives of promoting greener development and digitalisation in the Eastern Partnership.As Armenia is one of the water scarce countries in the Region, water use efficiency and protection of the freshwater ecosystems are vital.

The EcoPortal of Armenia will support sharing data and information among the water agencies to underpin the knowledge-based policy-making in the country. With the support from the European Union, water quality data of Armenia has been harmonized in line with the Water Information System Europe (WISE)water quality data dictionary. It is now compatible with the European dataset. Similarly, the indicators developed based on the water quality data and published on the EcoPortal follow an indicator template from the European Environment Agency. That means a comparison between Armenia,any of EU Member State and peer countries in the Eastern Partnership region can be performed for instance on nutrients in freshwater.The system’s functionalities and design of the EcoPortal are inspired by WISE, to which all EU Member States report their water data and share information. Eco portal presents water datasets, indicators, dynamic maps and reports. It allows for exchanging and sharing the data and information among the national water agencies in line with the Shared Environmental Information System principles and practices. Citizens, experts, practitioners and academia now can access various databases and compare the national data with the data of EU Member States as Armenia’swater quality data is fully aligned with the European dataset.  The developed indicators set enable also the public at large to get informed on water availability and the quality of water they rely on in their daily lives and the economy underpinning their wealth and prosperity.

The EcoPortal will also facilitate Armenia in meeting the reporting obligation to regional and international commitmentssuchas the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As an onset, the EcoPortal hosts water data and information but also a small component of the biodiversity i.e. indicator on protected areas. The EcoPortal holds sufficient technical facility to expand its content  to other environmental areas in the near future.  Background:The  ENI  SEIS  II  East  project  is  funded  by  the  European  Union.  Theproject  implements  the  principles  and practices  of  the  Shared  Environmental  Information  System  (SEIS)in  various  environmental  domains.  The project builds on previous cooperationactivities in the six Eastern Partnership countries(Armenia, Azerbaijan,

Implementation of the Shared Environmental Information System principles and practices in the Eastern Partnership countries (ENI SEIS II East)Project funded by the European Union Belarus,  Georgia, Republic  of Moldova  and  Ukraine),  carried  outbetween  2010-2015.  It  aims  to  deepen  the EU’s relations  with  the  six  Eastern  Partnership  countries  and  support  the  promotion  of  environmental protection   by   strengthening   environmental   governance.   The   project   builds   capacity   in   the   fields   of biodiversity, water, land, air and environmental assessments.

Background info:

ENI SEIS II East project: https://eni-seis.eionet.europa.eu/east/governance

Water area of the project: https://eni-seis.eionet.europa.eu/east/areas-of-work/data/water

European Environment Agency water: https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/water

Contact information: Victoria Goncharova Victoria.goncharova@eea.europa.eu +45 33 42 59 39

Twitter handle: @EUenvironm