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Every Drop Counts: Water Resilience Begins Locally

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions organized a conference where they presented the “Every drop counts” initiative. The initiative was created to put the spotlight on the essential role of local governments in building water resilience in Europe.

In the face of increasing droughts, floods, and water scarcity, municipalities and regions are already developing concrete, innovative solutions on the ground. Yet, these efforts often remain invisible at the European level.

In the video you can see the graphics that respond to this gap by making local actions visible, connecting good practices across borders, and strengthening the voice of local governments in water-related policymaking. One of the many different presented initiatives is the RESTORIVER project, which is implemented in 7 different countries, including Sombor, Serbia. In that area we are expanding the mouth of the Dondo sidearm to enable natural flow of water and prevent flooding of the surrounding area, and applying stacking stones at locations facing the threat of riverbank erosion, which will revitalize the Dondo sidearm of the Danube river.

The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is Europe’s first and broadest association of Local and Regional Governments. They are the only organisation that encompasses 60 national associations of Local and Regional Governments spanning 41 European countries. Through them, we bring together more than 110,000 governments across all tiers of governance – local, intermediate, and regional. Additionally, as the European section of the global organisation United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), they champion European Local and Regional Governments on the world stage.