The International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) is the cooperating institutional partner for AQUACROSS Case Study Three: Danube River Basin - harmonising inland, coastal and marine ecosystem management to achieve aquatic biodiversity targets and is represented on the SPBTT. ICPDR is an International Organisation consisting of 14 cooperating states and the European Union. Since its establishment in 1998, the ICPDR has grown into one of the largest and most active international bodies of river basin management expertise in Europe. The ICPDR deals not only with the Danube itself, but also with the whole Danube River Basin, which includes its tributaries and ground water resources. It works to ensure the sustainable and equitable use of waters and freshwater resources in the Danube River Basin. The work of the ICPDR is based on the Danube River Protection Convention, the major legal instrument for cooperation and trans-boundary water management in the Danube River Basin.

Edith Hödl is the case study representative and Technical Expert for River Basin Management in the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) located in Vienna. She is responsible for the technical support of ICPDR Contracting Parties on issues related to river basin management as well as the coordination of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive including the review and updates of the River Basin Management Plan. Ms Hödl is advising technical experts and expert groups on relevant EU Directives and Regulations in the field of river basin management. A lawyer by training with a focus on European environmental and water law, Ms Hödl worked at the European Commission’s DG Environment, the Austrian Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management and the Austrian Umweltbundesamt before joining the ICPDR. For the past ten years, she has worked on European water legislation issues in a range of national and international projects (Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey) and as a consultant to the European Commission DG Environment. Ms Hödl possesses a profound and thorough national and international experience and knowledge in the implementation of water and nature related EU legislation and policies, in particular as regards the Birds and Habitat Directives, the Water Framework Directive, the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, the Floods Directive and the Nitrates Directive.