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The overall objective of BRAHMATWINN is to enhance capacity to implement a harmonised integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach in headwater river systems of alpine mountain massifs, as addressed by the European Water Initiative.

The overall objective of BRAHMATWINN is to enhance capacity to implement a harmonised integrated water resources management (IWRM) approach in headwater river systems of alpine mountain massifs, as addressed by the European Water Initiative.

Specific attention is given to likely impacts of climate change, and to the transfer of professional IWRM expertise, approaches and tools based on case studies carried out in twinning European and Asian rivers – the Upper Danube River Basin in Europe, and the Upper Brahmaputra River Basin in Southeast Asia.

The overall objective is to be achieved by
(i) assessing climate change impacts for water-soil resources management in trans-boundary basins with significant water storage in snow and glacier covered alpine mountain headwaters;
(ii) developing and applying integrated assessment approaches, and establishing an Integrated Water Resources Management System (IWRMS) toolset;
(iii) disseminating results and contributing to capacity building for the implementation of IWRM plans within the twinning basins. The project consortium is composed of both European and Asian partners.

The main expected results of the BRAHMATWINN project are:

  • An integrated holistic approach and system assessment of the trans-boundary Upper Danube River Basin and Upper Brahmaputra River Basin for sustainable IWRM.
  • Integrated indicators to quantify the natural environment and human dimension, selected to assess IWRM vulnerabilities by means of the DPSIR approach.
  • An integrated water resources management system (IWRMS) comprising the DANUBIA hydrological model, the river basin information system (RBIS) and the Network Analysis, Creative System Modelling and Decision Support (NetSyMoD).
  • A set “what-if?” scenarios, evaluated using the DPSIR approach, and the associated adaptive IWRM options tested by means of the IWRMS to mitigate likely impacts of climate change.
  • IWRM action plans based on the stakeholder negotiation, capacity building and the governance assessment.