ROMANIA
REIMBURSABLE ADVISORY SERVICES AGREEMENT ON
TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THE PREPARATION OF FLOOD
RISK MANAGEMENT PLANS FOR ROMANIA (P170989)
Output No. 8
Report on technical support provided to MEWF and ANAR for strengthening
their administrative capacity in water management
August 2023
Disclaimer
This work is a product of the staff of the World Bank. The findings, interpretation, and conclusions
expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the World Bank
or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included
in this work and does not assume responsibility for any errors, omissions, or discrepancies in the
information, or liability with respect to the use of or failure to use the information, methods, processes,
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map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of
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This report does not necessarily represent the position of the European Union or the Romanian
Government.
Copyright Statement
The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions of this work without
permission may be a violation of applicable laws.
For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send a request with the complete
information to either: (i) Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, Calea Plevnei 46-48, Sector 1,
Bucharest, Romania); or (ii) the World Bank Group Romania (Vasile Lascăr Street, No 31, Et 6, Sector 2,
Bucharest, Romania).
This report was delivered under the Reimbursable Advisory Services Agreement on Technical Support for
the Preparation of Flood Risk Management Plans for Romania signed between the Ministry of Waters and
Forests1 and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development on October 16, 2019. It
corresponds to Output 8: Report on technical support provided to MEWF and ANAR for strengthening
their administrative capacity in water management.
1
Changed its name to Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests (MEWF) in November 2019.
i
Acknowledgments
The team would like to thank the Government of Romania, in particular Ms. Olimpia Simona Negru
(General Director of General Water Directorate), Mr. Altan Abdulamit (Head of Unit of the Safety in the
Operation of Hydrotechnical Works Unit) from MEWF, and Mr. Sorin Rîndașu (Director of Emergency
Situations Department) and his team from ANAR, as well as the team from INHGA for their close
collaboration and overall technical guidance throughout the development of this report on enhancing the
administrative capacity in water management.
The authors would like to give special thanks to Winston Yu (Practice Manager, Water Global Practice in
Europe and Central Asia, the World Bank) and Anna Akhalkatsi (Country Manager for Romania, the World
Bank) for their advice and guidance.
This report was prepared by Elena Daniela Ghiță (Water Resources Management Specialist), Chris Fischer
(Senior Water Resources Management Specialist, Task Team Leader), Amparo Samper Hiraldo (Senior
Water Resources Management Specialist, Task Team Leader), Cosmin Feodorov (Project Management
Analyst), Clara Ivănescu (Geographer / GIS Specialist), and the experts Adina Făgărășan, Eric Jan Huijskes,
Jeronimo Puertas Agudo, Cristian Dinu, Niculina Florescu, Mary Jeanne Adler, Sebastian Doebbelt Gruene,
Edmund Charles Penning-Rowsell, Lyubomir Filipov, Dragoș Gontariu, Gabriel Simion, Aurelian Drăghia,
Jonathan Charles Dominic Fisher, Ioana Alina Dobrescu, Maria Stoica and Juan Fernandez Sainz. The team
also benefited from the logistic support provided by George Alexandru Moldoveanu (Information
Assistant).
The report also builds on the inputs of the S.C. Esri România S.R.L., HR Wallingford, Jeremy Benn
Associates Limited, HKV lijn in water, DHI SW Projects S.R.L and Aquaproiect SA which were supporting
the development of training sessions.
ii
Table of Contents
Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 4
2. Assessment of the Romanian water authorities’ administrative capacity in water management ...... 6
2.1 Stocktaking phase’ needs assessment ................................................................................................ 6
2.2 Approaches towards the newly identified capacity building needs after the stocktaking phase ...... 7
3. Elaboration of the Capacity Building Plan ............................................................................................. 8
4. Implementation of the Capacity Building Plan ..................................................................................... 9
5. Results of the Capacity Building Plan .................................................................................................. 12
5.1 Training sessions ............................................................................................................................... 12
5.2 Support studies for flood risk management ..................................................................................... 14
5.3 New tools for flood risk management .............................................................................................. 15
5.4 Other activities to enhance the capacities for flood risk management............................................ 17
6. Conclusions and recommendations .................................................................................................... 21
6.1 Remaining activities .......................................................................................................................... 21
6.2 Conclusions and recommendations for the future ........................................................................... 22
List of Annexes ............................................................................................................................................ 23
Annex 1 – Capacity Building Plan ............................................................................................................ 23
Annex 2 – List of implemented activities to enhance the capacities of the Romanian water authorities .
.................................................................................................................................................... 23
Annex 3 – List of the training sessions .................................................................................................... 23
Annex 4 – Minutes of the Workshop on 2nd cycle of Floods Directive implementation lessons learned .
.................................................................................................................................................... 23
List of tables
Table 1 Preliminary indicators for CBP implementation ..............................................................................................10
Table 2 List of remaining training activities .................................................................................................................21
1
Abbreviations
ADL Azure Data Lake
ANAR The National Administration ”Romanian Waters”
APSFR Areas of Potential Significant Flood Risk
CBA Cost Benefit Analysis
CB Capacity Building
CBP Capacity Building Plan
CC Climate Change
DPPI SEE Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative for South East Europe
EC European Commission
ECMWF European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
ESSL European Severe Storms Laboratory
EU European Union
EUMETNET European National Meteorological Services
EUMETSAT European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites
FD Floods Directive
FHM Flood Hazard Maps
FHRM Flood Hazard and Risk Maps
FRM Flood Risk Maps
FRMP Flood Risk Management Plans
GI Green Infrastructure
GIS Geographic Information System
HQ Headquarters
HR Human Resources
IGSU General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations
INHGA National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management
IWA International Water Association
IWAD International Association of Water Service Companies in the Danube
River Catchment Area
JRC Joint Research Centre
MCA Multi Criterial Analysis
MEWF Ministry of Environment, Water and Forests
NBS Nature Based Solutions
PoM Program of Measures
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Q&A Questions and Answers
RAS Reimbursable Advisory Services
RBA River Basin Administration
SHE Stakeholder Engagement
SIWI Stockholm International Water Institute
TAG Technical Advisory Group
2
TWG Technical Working Group
UoM Unit of Management
WB World Bank
WMO World Meteorological Organization
WV Web Viewer
3
1. Introduction
This “Report on technical support provided to MEWF and ANAR for strengthening their administrative
capacity in water management” (further named the Report) represents the eighth and last Output as
specified in the Reimbursable Advisory Services Agreement (RAS) signed between the Ministry of
Environment, Waters and Forests (MEWF) and the World Bank (WB) on October 16, 2019, for the
provision of “Technical support for the Preparation of Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMP) for Romania”
(further named the Project).
The overall objective of the Project is to support the Government of Romania strengthen the capacity of
the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Forests (MEWF) and the National Administration “Romanian
Waters” (ANAR) in their implementation of the second and third stages of the second cycle of the EU
Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) (FD). In this regard the Bank worked very closely with MEWF and ANAR,
but also with ANAR’s eleven River Basin Administrations (RBA), the National Institute of Hydrology and
Water Management (INHGA) and other government agencies, such as the General Inspectorate for
Emergency Situations (IGSU). Ultimately, the WB provided support to Romania for the development of
the Flood Hazard and Risk Maps (FHRM) and Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMP), contributing to the
improvement of the national capacities for flood risk management.
This Report describes in detail the advice and support provided by the World Bank to Romania for
strengthening their administrative capacity in water management, complementing the earlier outputs of
the RAS as listed below:
• Output 1 – Report on Stocktaking: The thorough assessment of Romania’s capacities in flood risk
management and their first cycle implementation of the EU Floods Directive was delivered in April
2020. It highlights the challenges faced by Romania when implementing the three stages of the
FD during first cycle, including challenges related to data availability and data management for
modelling, the systematic and consistent methods for hazard and risk modeling and appraisal of
proposed measures for their prioritization or the difficulties to actively involve stakeholders in the
planning process. The report also included a detailed workplan for the RAS describing how the
World Bank planned to support Romania with the second cycle implementation of the EU Floods
Directive.
• Output 2 - Report on the review and update of methodological guidance provided to MEWF on the
following: (i) methodology for the assessment of damages; (ii) methodology for the evaluation of
flood hazard and risk; (iii) revision of catalogue of flood risk management measures; (iv)
methodology to assess the impact of hydrotechnical works on ecosystems; (v) methodology for
cost-benefit analysis; (vi) methodology for multi-criteria analysis; (vii) methodology for the
prioritization of measures and Projects. These new methodologies were delivered in October
2020.
• Output 3 – Report on technical data collected: The World Bank supported Romania in the analysis
and processing of existing data for flood risk management, in the collection of new data and in
the organization and structuring of this information for its use in flood risk management and in
the development of the new FHRM and FRMP. Output 3, delivered in September 2021, describes
in detail the different types of data needed for flood risk management, how the World Bank
assessed and processed the existing data, identified data gaps, collected new data and how all the
information was organized in a new database. The report also explains how this data is being used
4
for the development of the FHRM and FRMP and how it is being transferred to the Romanian
authorities.
• Output 4 – Report on technical support to MEWF for modeling flood hazard and flood risk: Using
the new methodologies delivered in Output 2 and the data delivered in Output 3, the World Bank
provided support for the realization of flood hazard modelling for 321 Areas of Potential
Significant Flood Risk (APSFRs) and the risk assessment for 526 APSFRs and 9 non-APSFRs. Output
4, delivered in December 2021 details all work related to this modelling.
• Output 5 - Report on advice provided to MEWF in the preparation of draft FHRM: the draft version
delivered in July 2022 and the final one in July 2023. The report describes the processes
undertaken to generate the new hazard and risk maps for baseline scenario, as well as the
modeling for dike breach scenarios. It further explains in detail how the River Basin
Administrations and other relevant stakeholders reviewed and validated the maps and how they
were published in a Web Viewer. In addition to uploading all new maps in the Web Viewer, the
World Bank delivered for all APSFRs the models, including factsheets about the hazard modeling
and risk assessment, as well as 12 reports summarizing the results for each Unit of Management
(11 River Basin Administration and the Danube River). The World Bank also provided support to
INHGA in the reporting of the maps to the European Commission.
• Output 6 - Report on advice provided to MEWF in the preparation of 12 draft Flood Risk
Management Plans for public consultation: Delivered in September 2022, the report already
describes in detail the planning process leading to the FRMP and provides key inputs and
preliminary results for Romania’s draft plans that were published by MEWF for public consultation
shortly after.
• Output 7 – Report on technical support provided to MEWF in the preparation of twelve (12) final
draft Flood Risk Management Plans: Delivered in March 2023, the report updates and
complements Outputs 6, summarizing the planning process and presenting in detail the key inputs
for the elaboration of the final draft FRMPs, which are to be reported to EC, after the publication
of the Governmental Decision for their approval.
These outputs have been developed in close collaboration with MEWF, ANAR and INHGA and were
internally quality controlled. All outputs have been provided to MEWF, ANAR and INHGA in English and
Romanian language. MEWF and ANAR provided written comments that helped the World Bank to further
improve the reports and provide a final version for formal acceptance.
Output 8, the current report, presents in detail the activities conducting to enhancement of the
administrative capacity in water management of the Romanian water authorities (MEWF, ANAR, INHGA
and the eleven RBAs), but as well of other relevant stakeholders with roles in water management. This
capacity building allows them to be prepared to implement the third and next cycles of EU Floods
Directive, to make risk-based decisions, to apply innovative, proactive and green solutions for flood risk
management, to consider climate change effects on future floods, etc. After the comprehensive
assessment of the needs, which was done at the beginning of the Project, these capacity building activities
were prepared in close collaboration with MEWF, ANAR and INHGA. The detailed planning and
organization of the activities were discussed, agreed and thoroughly documented in progress reports, as
well as in the minutes of the coordination meetings that took place every two weeks during the Project
implementation.
5
A preliminary version of this Report was delivered to MEWF and ANAR in April 2023. Following the
decision to extend the duration of the Project until September 30, 2023, to be able to include more
activities to strengthen institutional capacities on flood risk management that could not be carried out
until June 2023 due to the large volume of work of the Romanian authorities in the field of water, the
decision was taken to provide the final version of Output 8 in August 2023. The text of this final version
of Result no. 8 has been revised and enriched with new content to reflect the up-to-date situation on
actions taken to strengthen the institutional capacities of MEWF, ANAR, INHGA, RBAs, as well as other key
stakeholders.
This report is structured the following way: After this introduction, Chapter 2 presents an overview of the
activities conducted to assess the administrative capacities of the Romanian water authorities, the
conclusions of the assessment and the identified gaps to overcome them.
Chapter 3 is presenting the strategy adopted under the RAS to enhance the capacities for flood risk
management, detailed in Annex 1.
Chapter 4 contains details related to implementation and monitoring of the Capacity Building Plan (CBP),
the challenges faced in this process and the solutions adopted to improve the processes.
Chapter 5 briefly describes the results obtained after implementing the Capacity Building Plan, detailed in
the Annexes 2, 3 and 4.
Chapter 6 provides a short overview of the planned activities to be implemented until the end of the RAS
Agreement, respectively until end of September 2023, to facilitate the implementation of the next cycles
of Floods Directive.
2. Assessment of the Romanian water authorities’ administrative
capacity in water management
2.1 Stocktaking phase’ needs assessment
Stocktaking phase of the RAS covered the first six months of the Project and its objective was to identify
the existing capacities of Romanian waters authorities for implementation of the second and third stage
of Floods Directive UE 2007/60/CE, to identify areas of improvements compared to the first cycle
implementation and to plan proper activities to overcome the existing limitations for an adequate
implementation of the Directive, with the overall purpose of enhancing Romania’s flood risk management
capacities.
It is well known that as a Member State, Romania has the responsibility to continuously assess, update
and mitigate the flood risk as imposed by Floods Directive, taking into consideration as well the provisions
of other sectoral European acts and the best practices in the field. Under the current increasing challenges
related to climate change, urbanization, European standards achievement, Floods Directive
implementation requires a very good coordination at national level of all key institutions with roles in
flood risk management, extensive resources, multi-disciplinary approaches and others.
6
Starting from the European Commission assessment of the Floods Directive implementation in Romania
during the first cycle, the World Bank Team went beyond in its assessment, covering not only the resulting
products, but as well the existing legislation in the field, the inter-institutional relations, the capacities at
the institutional level, the existing knowledge base etc. This process is described in more details in Output
1 of the RAS.
In order to better clarify and validate the initial findings of this assessment, numerous interactions took
place with the Romanian water authorities from national and regional level. Another objective of these
contacts was also to understand to which degree certain actions can be implemented during the Project
and what are the needed resources.
Two important activities carried out before COVID- 19 outburst contributed substantially to the
identification of possible areas of interventions, taking into consideration the expectations of MEWF,
ANAR, INHGA and RBAs:
• a workshop with RBAs, INHGA, ANAR-HQ and MEWF’ representatives, organized at WB premises,
on the January 21st, 2020, with the objectives of getting the participants’ feedback (in particular
from the RBAs) on the lessons learnt from the first cycle of Floods Directive (FD) implementation,
as well as their views on necessary actions to improve the process in the second cycle.
• the development of two comprehensive questionnaires for management and operational staff
which were discussed during the meetings with each institution in the water field from national
level and from regional level, at their premises, during February 2020. The questionnaires
approached the following main topics: field of expertise to improve as an organization, inter-
institutional cooperation, stakeholders’ engagement and human resources related aspects.
At the end of the stocktaking phase period, it was agreed with MEWF, ANAR and INHGA that the key areas
of intervention to focus the efforts during the Project as well as for capacity building were as follows:
• knowledge base and data management
• improvement and application of the methodological framework
• promotion and inclusion of GI/NBS for flood risk management
• consolidation of flood resilience in marginalized and poor communities
• enhancement of the communication and multi-stakeholder engagement
Starting from this agreement, in the next phase of the Project a strategy to enhance the existing capacities
of the Romanian water authorities was developed, which is described in more detail in Chapter 3 and can
be consulted in Annex 1.
2.2 Approaches towards the newly identified capacity building needs after the
stocktaking phase
As the multiple activities of the Project started to take shape, new needs arise, most of them caused by
the novelty and innovation of the developed products. These needs were not overlooked during the
Project implementation, and depending on their nature (e.g., additional information need, additional skills
need, etc.), solutions were found to be included in the Project activities and schedule. In some cases,
elaboration of guideline documents or organizing workshops to consolidate the acquired skills were much
7
more useful than organizing straight training sessions. Other times, the on-the-job training method was
adopted providing good results. The solutions were closely discussed, agreed and adopted in collaboration
with MEWF, ANAR and INHGA.
As the Floods Directive implementation implies a lot of interactions with a variety of stakeholders from
general public to governmental institutions, with different level of knowledge and understanding of the
flood risk management problematic, activities were developed to increase awareness and active
involvement of different audiences considering its level of understanding. In some cases, to secure the
coordination with other institutions and finding synergies with other ongoing Projects, other authorities
with roles in flood risk management were invited in the training sessions for a better understanding of the
products developed under the current Project.
3. Elaboration of the Capacity Building Plan
After the stocktaking phase of the Project and agreement on the main areas of intervention during the
Project implementation, a specific activity was focused on elaboration of the Capacity Building Plan (CBP).
This also included the planning of a training program that could cover most of the capacities’ needs of the
Romanian water authorities, with the aim to improve the flood risk management capacities in Romania.
The CBP represents a strategic document that substantiated and guided the WB team’s activities and
interventions related to building capacities. This document is included as Annex 1 of this report.
A comprehensive analysis of the WB’s related work on capacity building in Romania and externally, as well
as of other international best practices, was done to reflect the latest lessons learned when elaborating
this strategy to enhance capacities in this complex field of knowledge (flood risk management), which
encompasses cross-cutting issues including many sectors.
The interventions planned by the World Bank team to increase the Romanian capacities for flood risk
management targeted the three levels of any sectoral environment:
• Individual: training programs, workshops for in-depth discussion of specific topics; conferences
etc.,
• Institutional: tools developed to ensure a unitary approach for flood risk management among the
local and regional institutions, and
• Systemic: national methodologies, technical working groups at national level.
The activities envisioned under the CBP were not only delivering technical, functional, tangible and visible
improvements, but as well social, relational, intangible and invisible changes related to the approaches in
the flood risk management field of work.
The WB team identified various mechanisms to support the enhancement of the institutional capacities
for each area of intervention areas agreed in the stocktaking phase. Among the most relevant mechanisms
are:
• Training sessions
• Workshops
• Additional studies
8
• Technical Working Groups
The training sessions are of crucial importance in triggering the changes at individual level, thus a detailed
training program plan was developed and agreed with MEWF, ANAR and INHGA as part of the CBP in the
first year of the Project’s implementation. This training program plan is the core part of CBP elaborated
under the Project. The aim of the program was to ensure the deep understanding and proper use of the
tools developed under the Project, to improve the flood risk management at institutional and system
level. This will also secure the replication and the improvement of the Floods Directive implementation in
the next cycles, to generate changes towards a more inclusive and proactive engagement of other relevant
actors for flood risk management. Improved capacities at individual level will determine improvements at
institutional and systemic level.
As any other strategic document, the CBP is indicating the tasks and responsibilities for implementation
and monitoring of the planned interventions, as well as indicators for monitoring the CBP implementation.
The CBP was conceptualized as a living document, so it suffered changes during Project implementation.
The most important changes are described in Chapter 4 of this Report.
Recommendations were phrased in actions to be implemented during the Project duration and, for the
issues that could not be effectively addressed in the current Project, short and medium term follow-up
actions were suggested.
4. Implementation of the Capacity Building Plan
Implementation of CBP and its monitoring during the Project is a shared responsibility between WB, and
the client side, the sole initiator of the process for this cycle of Floods Directive implementation. Meaning
that MEWF, ANAR, INHGA and RBAs are the beneficiaries of the interventions planned under the plan and
initiators of interventions for the next cycle. For a smooth implementation of the CBP, all the interventions
were agreed in advance and planned in detail with all the involved parties.
During the Project implementation, the CBP suffered changes and improvements as it encompasses a
dynamic process under the influence of internal and external factors related to the institutions involved.
The most important external factor that determined important changes in the CBP was the burst of
COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions. All the activities and interactions were moved to the virtual
environment and forced the use of new IT tools in the CBP process (e.g., meetings organized on Teams/
Zoom/ Webex platforms, use of Moodle platform for organizing the training sessions, etc.) and the
diversification of mechanisms to communicate and transfer the knowledge (e.g., more informative
documents were elaborated, additional Q&A sections and consolidation sessions, etc.).
Another external factor that impacted the CBP implementation is related to the nature of activity of most
of the staff of MEWF, ANAR, INHGA and RBAs involved in the implementation of the Floods Directive who
are also dealing with emergency situation management. One characteristic of this work is that on long
term is hard to predict the availability of the staff for training activities and the planning suffered constant
changes. These changes were affecting not only the periods of time for implementation, but as well were
generating a rethinking of the content and methods depending on the overall development and progress
of the Project activities.
9
Among the internal factors that affected the implementation of the CBP, it should be mentioned the
following: the complexity of the flood risk management process, the heterogeneous capacities of the staff,
the work overload of the staff, the language barrier, the limited capacity of the trainer in a virtual
environment to check the level of attention and the deep understanding of the trainees, etc. WB team
took into consideration these aspects and adopted various actions to mitigate undesired negative effects:
- for each area of intervention, the training sessions were designed per stages, starting from a
beginner level and advancing towards more complex knowledge;
- to avoid overloading the staff, limited number of training days were done in the periods of
intensive activities for their institution and other alternative mechanisms to transfer the
knowledge were used;
- the training sessions were provided to the maximum extent possible by Romanian speaking
trainers and, where not possible, translation was ensured;
- the training sessions were complemented by on-the-job training activities where the area of
intervention allowed (e.g., application of the PoM methodology).
Annex 2 of this report is presenting in more detail the activities planned and completed to increase the
flood risk management capacities of the Romanian water authorities for each agreed area of intervention.
There are some remaining activities related to capacity building enhancement that will be implemented
in the upcoming period (more details in Chapter 6.1).
The preliminary indicators of the CBP implementation are presented below in Table 1:
Table 1 Preliminary indicators for CBP implementation
Generic result Specific result Measures of Planned
No. CB Outcomes Results
indicator indicator indicators Evidence
No. of specific
Studies
studies
Completed data A proper conducted to
Database for conducted to
gaps and management of the restructure,
mapping and restructure, 3
restructured database for update and
FRMP update and
database mapping and FRMP complete the
1 development complete the
necessary for development database
restructured, database
mapping and (restructured,
updated and Database
FRMP updated and Flood
completed restructured,
development completed) database 7
updated and
updated
completed
321 new FHMs
MEWF, ANAR,
and 526 FHMs
INHGA and
The new No. maps and including CC FHRMs and
RBAs
methodologies are plans scenario FRMPs
Implementation implemented
successfully used in developed in developed in
2 of the new the
the PoM and FRMP line with the 526 FRMs line with the
methodologies methodologies
development new (including one methodologies’
developed
process methodologies for CC scenario) requirements
within the
Project
12 FRMPs
10
Generic result Specific result Measures of Planned
No. CB Outcomes Results
indicator indicator indicators Evidence
Share of the
The staff of
trained staff
MEWF, ANAR, MEWF - ~8%
who use new
INHGA and
New skills to assist
RBAs use the ANAR - ~6%
Enhanced staff skills/knowledge their HR Reports,
3 developed skills
skills used in FD institutions statistics
to perform INHGA - ~10%
implementation (MEWF,
their FD
ANAR-HQ,
implementation RBA - ~2%
INHGA and
responsibilities
ABAs)
Number of
Studies
GI/NBS measures studies
2 regarding the
Reduced climate included in PoM regarding
GI/NBS
change APSFRs where GI/NBS
vulnerability and GI/NBS were Number of
enhanced proposed and APSFRs where
measures of whose GI/NBS were
4
inclusion and vulnerability to proposed and 161 APSFRs/
Climate change PoMs and MCA
promotion of the climate change whose cluster of APSFRs
related measures and CBAs
green is going to be vulnerability
included in PoM reports
infrastructure for reduced to climate 12 PoMs
flood protection change is
going to be
reduced
526 Flood risk
factsheets
indicating the Factsheets for
Marginalized Number of
most vulnerable flood risk
Consolidated and Poor documents
Tools developed population assessment
flood resilience in Communities that consider
5 in PoM 12 UoM
marginalized and identified and the poor and
methodology used Strategies PoMs and MCA
poor communities considered in marginalized
considering the and CBAs
FRM communities
marginalized and reports
poor
communities
4 online
channels
developed to
Enhanced Stakeholder’ facilitate the
SHE strategy
stakeholders’ engagement and Indicators Indicators access to
monitoring and
6 engagement and inter-institutional defined in SHE defined in SHE technical and
evaluation
inter-institutional collaboration Strategy strategy non-technical
reports
collaboration enhanced information
related to flood
risk
management
11
Generic result Specific result Measures of Planned
No. CB Outcomes Results
indicator indicator indicators Evidence
8 TAG meetings
were organized
and 2 technical
missions with
institutional
stakeholders
5. Results of the Capacity Building Plan
The main objective of this Project, as mentioned in previous sections, is to improve the institutional and
technical capacity for flood risk management and water management of MEWF and ANAR, in line with
international good practices, and to ensure water security under the threat of climate change for
Romania. The capacities and the capabilities of an institution and its people are essential for the
development of their mandate, roles and responsibilities. The human resources and their knowledge play
an important role in fulfilling the day-to-day business and, in particular, for complying with the
implementation of European Directives that set the standards for different topics in the European Union
space.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) defines Integrated Flood Risk Management approach as
a way of dealing with flood risks in a coordinated and in basin wide basis, considering land and water
resources. This is implemented by promoting an integrated approach at basin level, proposing structural
and non-structural measures under the influence of climate change and considering the combination of
green and grey infrastructure to reduce the flood risk and its consequences affecting different sectors.
For the implementation of this type of approach different capacities are necessary to promote this
coordinated and integrated approach such as: data management, standard methods for the development
of Flood Hazard and Risk Maps and Flood Risk Management Plans, hydrological and hydraulic modeling,
integration of climate change, quantitative flood hazard and risk assessment, GIS, IT tools, multi-criteria
analysis and cost-benefit analysis, etc.
An assessment was done to define the gaps and the local context to be covered in the Capacity Building
Plan, as described in previous sections and explained in Annex 1 of this document. In this plan, an
implementation road map was defined with indicators to achieve the needed targets for this Project.
In this section, the results obtained as a result of the implementation of the CBP will be described in detail.
A summary of the training sessions completed and the associated increased capacities, the support
studies base and source of knowledge and information, new tools to improve flood risk management and
finally other activities to enhance capacities in flood risk management will be explained.
5.1 Training sessions
A training session is a direct way to create and increase capacity on a selected topic by implementing a
method of teaching and instructing participants on a particular topic by practical examples and using the
paradigm of “learning by doing”. Under this Project, a set of training sessions on different topics were
planned and implemented comprising 38 training sessions, in 60 different days, training in average 60
12
participants per session. Note that other trainings are planned to be implemented in the remaining days
until the closing of the Project (see section 6.1 of this document).
The training sessions focused on the five areas defined based on the identified gaps and specific targets
to increase capacities in flood risk management and are described below. A summary of the main topics
of training sessions by category is provided in the next lines, for the detail description please see Annex 2
and Annex 3 of this document:
Knowledge base and data management
• GIS
• Exposure data
• Data collection and data structure for FHRM & FRMP development
• Data structuring and naming and management
Improvement and application of the methodological framework
• Flood Hazard Modelling and Mapping methodology
o Fluvial Modeling
o Pluvial Modeling
o Dike behavior
o Use and interpretation of the Flood Hazard and Risk Maps
o Flood Hazard Modeling and Mapping for experts
o Dike Breach Modeling
o Flood Hazard Modeling and Mapping for general public
• Damage & Loss Assessment and Risk Mapping methodology
o Flood damage and risk assessment part 1
o Verification of flood risk maps
o Flood damage and risk assessment part 2
• Methodology for the Development of Programs of Measures
o Appraisal Flood Unit Delineation
o Screening phase
o Evaluation of APSFRs Strategies: MCA & CBA
o Prevention, Protection and Preparedness: Packaging measures into APSFR Strategy
o Feasibility and Justification, MCA & CBA of the integrated projects
Promotion and inclusion of GI/NBS for flood risk management
• Green Infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions
• Green Infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions for urban areas
• Green Infrastructure and Nature-Based Solutions to reduce the coastal flood risk
• River restoration and implementation of NBS and GI in strategies and projects
Consolidation of flood resilience in marginalized and poor communities
• Roma communities’ engagement
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Enhancement of the communication and multi-stakeholder engagement
• Communication – Online Marketing & Social media
• Mapping the stakeholders and ways of interactions with the stakeholders
• Media training
• Communication and Stakeholders Engagement
• Web Viewer
• Negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution
5.2 Support studies for flood risk management
Support studies increase knowledge base and information on a specific topic and are another indirect way
to increase capacities of institutions. Under this Project, several support studies were planned and
completed, constituting a deep dive on strategic topics on flood risk management and covering some of
the identified gaps.
The support studies were also defined in five categories of focus, based on the gaps and the local
conditions, similar to the training sessions. The following lines mention the support studies and more
details are provided in Annex 2 of this document.
Knowledge base and data management
• Data structure and naming convention policy: contributing to increase knowledge on data
management principles and data reuse for next cycle.
• Technical Report on spatial database: contributing to increase the availability of new high-quality
data for hazard modeling and mapping.
• Technical Report on exposure database: contributing to increase the availability new high-quality
data for damage and risk modeling and mapping.
Improvement and application of the methodological framework
• Methodology for Flood Hazard Modelling and Mapping: contributing to create a standard
framework for flood hazard modeling and mapping.
• Methodology for Damage & Loss Assessment and Risk Mapping: contributing to create a standard
framework for damage and loss assessment and risk mapping.
• Methodology for the Development of Programs of Measures: contributing to create a standard
framework to develop a program of measures part of the FRMP.
• Study to assess legal aspects for land acquisition and for paying compensation for flood water
storage on private/ public land: contributing to decipher the application of existing legal
framework for land acquisition or compensation in the context of flood risk management.
• Report on Preparedness Package: contributing to determine the main gaps and needs associated
with Preparedness activities and to identify viable package of measures.
• Report on Flood Hazard Modeling and Mapping per UoM: contributing to understand how the
methodology for flood hazard modeling and mapping was applied and what were the results at
UoM level.
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• Report on Flood Risk Modeling and Mapping per UoM: contributing to understand how the
methodology for flood risk assessment and mapping was applied and what were the results at
UoM level.
Promotion and inclusion of GI/NBS for flood risk management
• Study regarding potential areas for floodplain restoration and dike relocation: contributing to
increase the knowledge on the potential for restauration of floodplains and room for the river by
mapping.
• Green Guidance: contributing to increase knowledge in how to promote green solutions in a
program of measures for flood risk management.
Consolidation of flood resilience in marginalized and poor communities
• Roma Pilot for Community Engagement: contributing to increase the knowledge on engaging with
marginalized and poor communities.
Enhancement of the communication and multi-stakeholder engagement
• Survey on the capacity of stakeholders to get involved in the process of FRMP (INTERACT):
contributing to the increase of knowledge of the key stakeholders for flood risk management.
• Stakeholder Engagement Strategy: contributing with a project road map to interact with
stakeholders for flood risk management.
• Concept of structure and content for the online environment (website, social media) dedicated
to floods: contributing to increase the knowledge on flood risk management for the wider public
and increasing engagement.
5.3 New tools for flood risk management
Tools are essential instruments to accomplish technical and non-technical tasks in any field of knowledge
but for flood risk management as a data intensive process tools are even more essential. Tools are also
means to develop capacities on a specific topic to complete tasks in a more systematic, automatic, fast,
and innovative way. Tools facilitate the accomplishment and completion of technical tasks that with other
means would it be unachievable. Several tools to accomplish technical tasks were developed under the
Project and contributed to the increase of capacities for flood risk management.
As in previous sections, the tools have been developed mainly in the five main topics where capacities
gaps were identified. The tools will be described by the five topics in the following lines, see Annex 2 for
more details:
Knowledge base and data management
• 1st cycle restructured Database and naming convention: a solid tool to facilitate the reuse the
data from first cycle in the second cycle and other activities.
• Spatial database: a database tool to access new collected data for hazard modeling in a structured
way.
• Exposure database: a database tool to access new collected data for risk modeling in a structured
way.
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• Loss and damage database: a database tool to access new collected data for risk modeling in a
structured way.
• Damage curves: a curve tool adapted to Romanian context to define the relation between the
water depth associated to Annual Exceedance Probability and the associated damage.
• Tool to build the hydrographs based on floods parameters: an excel tool do develop synthetic
hydrographs based on the Cadariu2 method.
• GIS Tool for integration of Climate Change into Hazard Maps: a new GIS tool to integrate climate
change in existing flood hazard maps from first cycle.
• Fragility curves for dike breaches: a set of scripts to develop fragility curves automatically and fill
in data with assumptions in case data is not available.
• Moodle Platform setup for training purposes: a training platform to disseminate and conduct the
trainings planned under the Project.
• Web Viewer: a GIS based tool used for the feedback of the stakeholders on the maps and also to
publish the maps to the wider public and for reporting to EU the FHRM.
• Hydraulic models for baseline scenarios: a set of hydraulic models set for the different baseline
scenarios per river sector/APSFR.
• Updated Flood Hazard and Risk Maps: a new tool for flood risk management awareness of
professionals and larger public, a tool for the development of the program of measures, etc.
• Costing database: a systematic tool to cost the measures part of the program of measures in a
unitary and standard way.
• Updated Flood Risk Management Plans: a complete strategy for flood risk management to be
implemented in the next programming period.
• Dike breach hydraulic models: a set of hydraulic models set for the different mechanisms of dike
failure.
• Dike breach risk assessment: a set of results describing the consequences of floods produced by
dike breaches.
• Risk assessment at commune level for the baseline scenarios: a set of results describing the
consequences of floods for baseline scenarios.
Improvement and application of the methodological framework
• New Catalogue of Measures: a tool listing the standard measures to be adopted for flood risk
management.
• Guideline for flood risk mapping: a standard tool to develop standard maps according to
international best practices.
• Factsheets for selected measures: a standard tool describing the measure, its scale and benefits,
potential effects on WFD status, potential negative impacts, complementary measures, potential
funding sources etc.
• Guidelines for the Delineation of Appraisal Flood Units: a procedure to delineate the units object
of the program of measures.
• Costing sheet: a systematic tool to cost the measures part of the program of measures in a unitary
and standard way.
2
Cadariu, R.; Model analitic adimensional pentru forma viiturilor teoretice singulare. Rev. Hidrotecnica, vol. nr. 24
(1979), nr. 6, p. 124-125
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• Appraisal Summary Tool: a systematic tool to appraise the proposed measures.
• Fiches for national measures: a standard tool describing the measure, its objectives, context, links
with other projects, activities, estimated budget etc.
• Summary of high priority projects: a resume of the process to define and evaluate the effects
integrated projects at national level, designed to be used for promoting the projects.
Promotion and inclusion of GI/NBS for flood risk management
• Maps of potential for floodplain restoration and dike relocation: a tool to define the potential for
floodplain restoration and room for the river.
Consolidation of flood resilience in marginalized and poor communities
• Instruments to estimate the percentage of potentially affected by floods of poor and marginalized
communities: GIS analysis tools to assess the potentially affected people based on existing data.
• Guide for engaging marginalized and poor communities: a systematic road map tool in how to
engage with poor and marginalized communities in the context of flood risk management.
Enhancement of the communication and multi-stakeholder engagement
• Stakeholder mapping: a tool to systematically identify the relevant stakeholder to the process of
integrated flood risk management.
• Creating a visual identity and brand for flood risk management in Romania – INUNDATII.RO: the
stakeholder engagement and communication activities around the Project needed a fresh and
modern approach, to reach as many people as possible, from decision makers to the general
public. Having a simple, yet memorable identity was necessary, hence the INUNDATII.RO brand
was created and used across Project communication. The visual identity was awarded at
Transform Awards Europe3.
• Development of www.inundatii.ro website for flood risk management in Romania: the website
was created as a central point for communication and as knowledge center concerning floods and
flood risk management in Romania.
5.4 Other activities to enhance the capacities for flood risk management
As part of the support provided by the World Bank to the MEWF and ANAR in the institutional
strengthening for flood risk management, a significant amount of materials was developed and provided
to support both the technical activities and the stakeholder engagement and communication activities.
These materials varied from technical factsheets and GIS Web Viewer to brochures and videos, or
infographics as well as building a dedicated flood risk management brand, website or social media
channels. The materials were delivered with ad hoc support or on the job trainings as well as dedicated
meetings, workshops or training to enhance the efficiency of using these materials and to contribute to
the institutional strengthening of the MEWF and ANAR, with INHGA and the RBAs.
Knowledge base and data management
3
INUNDATII.RO brand was awarded Bronze in the Best visual identity from the public sector category at Transform
Awards Europe 2022: https://www.transformmagazine.net/awards/europe/past-winners/2022-transform-awards/
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• Support for the development of GIS Portal for Flood Hazard and Risk Maps Web Viewer: the GIS
viewer was developed under the RAS and supported two main directions. One as a platform for
relevant stakeholders to view and review the hazard and risk maps, providing comments and
validating the maps, and the other as viewer for public institutions, professionals and the general
public.
• Development of Flood Hazard and Risk Maps Web Viewer user guide: the GIS Portal also includes
two guides to navigate the revised Flood Hazard and Risk Maps. One page includes a fast guide
and another as webpage providing videos and details on how to use the Web Viewer.
Improvement and application of the methodological framework
• Flood Hazard Modeling Factsheets: short report including the most important information about
the hazard modeling process at APSFR level.
• Flood Risk Modeling Factsheets: short report including the most important information about the
risk modeling process at APSFR, UoM and even national level.
• APSFR Strategy Factsheets: short report including the most important information about the
development of strategies of measures at APSFR level.
• 30 Integrated Projects Factsheets: short report including the most important information about
the development of strategies of measures at cluster of APSFRs.
• Brochure for stakeholder engagement explaining the APSFR Strategy Factsheets: the brochure
was developed to explain the factsheets providing details about content and purpose, to support
the stakeholder engagement process for the APSFR Strategy stage.
• Checklist for the APSFR Strategy Factsheets validation: a checklist was provided to stakeholders
as a guideline to review the factsheets.
Promotion and inclusion of GI/NBS for flood risk management
• Green Measures Factsheets: short report including the most important information about the
development of strategies prioritizing green measures at APSFR level.
Consolidation of flood resilience in marginalized and poor communities
• Developing a Community Engagement Guide for Poor and Marginalized: the RAS provided support
in stakeholder engagement throughout the implementation. In this context, three Roma
communities located in potential significant flood risk areas were engaged, together with the local
key stakeholders, in a Pilot approach. The activity and the approach that was used was
documented and concluded in a community engagement guide, tailored for Roma and poor and
marginalized communities.
Enhancement of the communication and multi-stakeholder engagement
• Support for the development of Facebook page Inundatii.ro and of YouTube channel inundatii.ro:
the overall communication process was supported with additional online channels, under the
same INUNDATII.RO branding and also indicating towards the www.inundatii.ro website.
• Brochures were developed to support both the communication and the stakeholder engagement
process during Project implementation:
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o brochure for the Flood Risk Management Plans - was developed to explain the Flood Risk
Management Plans and their purpose.
o brochure for the Flood Hazard and Risk Maps - was developed to explain the Flood Hazard
and Risk Maps and their purpose.
o brochure for finalizing and reporting the updated Flood Hazard and Risk Maps – was
developed to explain the efforts regarding Flood Hazard and Risk Maps development and
their purpose.
• Animated video for the Flood Risk Management Plans: an animated video was developed to raise
awareness about the flood hazard in Romania and to explain the main objectives of the Project in
layman and visually friendly format.
• Video for Flood Hazard and Risk Maps – presentation of maps: short video with general overview
of the maps, their audience and use.
• Video for Flood Hazard and Risk Maps – presentation of hazard and risk: short video briefly
explaining the difference between the hazard and the risk elements included in the maps.
• Video for Flood Hazard and Risk Maps – publishing the maps: short video announcing the
publication of the maps for the general public.
• Online communication campaign with Facebook Ads and Google Ads: to further increase
awareness on flood risk in Romania, to inform about the work done under the Project and to
inform about the need for a collaborative approach for sustainable and more effective measures,
additional online campaigns were conducted with the support of the World Bank.
• PowerPoint presentations for key stakeholder engagement stages for the Flood Hazard and Risk
Maps and Flood Risk Management Plans development: for each main stage of the Project where
relevant stakeholders were engaged support materials were developed.
Between May 15 – 19, 2023, the WB team organized a workshop in physical format on the 2nd cycle of
Floods Directive implementation lessons learned, which was attended by 120 persons from the WB,
MEWF, ANAR, INHGA and RBAs. The discussions covered the following areas: (i) Hazard modelling, risk
assessment, data management and the development of the new Flood Hazard and Risk Maps, (ii) the
Program of Measures - Prevention and Protection, (iii) the Package of Preparedness Measures, (iv)
National Measures, (v) Stakeholder Engagement and Communication and (vi) Training and Capacity
Building. For each of them, the results were presented, and lessons learned and recommendations for the
next implementation cycle of the Floods Directive were drawn. More details can be found in Annex 4 of
this Report.
In addition to the above, as part of building capacity support, the WB team informed and facilitated the
participation of the Romanian water authorities to 26 international online events, as follows:
Knowledge base and data management:
• ESRI User Conference (July 12 – 15, 2021)
• “Disrupting” HydroInformatics, a webinar organized by World Bank on February 17, 2022
Improvement and application of the methodological framework:
• World Water Week 2021 (August 23 – 27, 2021) on the theme Building Resilience Faster,
organized by SIWI
19
• 2021 Danube Water Conference themed “Building a Resilient and Water Secure Danube Region”
(18-20 October 2021), organized by IAWD and WB
• Cooperation in South-East Europe for building better preparedness to meteorological and
hydrological hazards, organized by WMO, EUMETNET, EUMETSAT, ECMWF, JRC, ESSL, DPPI SEE
and World Bank on November 26, 2021
• The 9th meeting of the Roundtable on Financing Water, organized by OECD Secretariat and UN-
Water on February 7 – 9, 2023
Promotion and inclusion of GI/NBS for flood risk management:
• What the Future has in Store: A New Paradigm for Water Storage, organized by WB on February
6, 2023
• Webinar: Biologically-inspired design for a Water-Smart Society, organized by Water Europe on
February 17, 2023
• How can NBS support climate-change adaptation and mitigation in the water sector? An
illustration with urban stormwater management, organized by Water Europe on June 1, 2023
• Improving National River Continuity Restoration Policies for European Ecosystem-based River
Management, organized by European Center for River Restoration on June 27, 2023
Enhancement of the communication and multi-stakeholder engagement:
• Stakeholder Consultation Workshop: Our Opinion – Our Danube (June 29 – 30,2021), organized by
ICPDR
Other water related topics:
• The Rising Cost of Inaction: How the Energy Crisis Impacts the Water Service Sector in the Danube
Region, a webinar organized by IAWD and WB, on March 2, 2022
• Groundwater: protecting tomorrow’s resources, a webinar organized by IWA, on March 22, 2022
• “Drought of sight, Drought of mind”, a webinar organized by IAWD and WB under the Danube
Water Program “KnowNow”, on October 20, 2022
• #Water4Mitigation, organized by SIWI between February – April 2023. The webinar series focused
on the following thematic fields and core sectors:
o Unpacking freshwater’s role: Climate mitigation measures in energy systems – February
16, 2023
o Time for Water Action – everything you need to know about the UN water conference –
March 1, 2023
o Unpacking freshwater’s role: Climate mitigation measures in freshwater systems –
March 16, 2023
o Unpacking freshwater’s role: Climate mitigation measures in land systems – March 30,
2023
o Unpacking freshwater’s role: Integrated approaches to climate mitigation – April 12,
2023
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• Partnerships and Cooperation for Water, a webinar organized by MEP Water Group – UNESCO on
May 23, 2023
• Routine Uncertainty Assessment, a webinar organized by Co-UDlabs on June 12, 2023
• Water Reuse Regulation: Impact on the water sector, webinar organized by European Water
Association on June 26, 2023.
• Monitoring and mitigating methane: Danish lessons for global action, webinar organized by IWA
in partnership with DANVA on June 27, 2023
• Circular Ways - Promoting circular approaches in wastewater treatment, organized by Aqua
Publica Europea on June 29, 2023
• Advanced control systems for nitrogen removal in full-scale water facilities, organized by IWA on
July 26, 2023.
• World Water Week 2023 - Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World,
organized by SIWI on August 20 - 24, 2023
6. Conclusions and recommendations
6.1 Remaining activities
As the Project progressed well, only 3 remaining training activities are to be implemented until the end of
the Project, which are detailed in Table 2.
Table 2 List of remaining training activities
Recommended no. of
Type of training No. of days Dates Format
participants
Google Earth Engine
1 day September 14 online 25
(GEE)
Fragility curves
3 days September 18 - 21 physical 20
development
Accessing European
4 days September 25 - 28 online 27
Funds
After the participation in the training on Accessing European Funds, the trainees have the possibility of
passing an exam and obtain official accreditation as Expert on Accessing European Structural and Cohesion
Funds, COR Code 242213.
A smaller workshop, of about 30 persons, will be organized between September 12 – 13, 2023, in physical
format, to support Romania in planning the 3rd cycle of Floods Directive implementation. The discussions
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will cover the following areas: (i) Romania’s ambition for the third cycle beyond compliance; (ii) Updates
of the Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment; (iii) Updates of the Flood Hazard and Risk Maps; (iv) Updates of
the Flood Risk Management Plans; (v) Data management; (vi) Stakeholder Engagement and
Communication and (vii) Development of the roadmap, cost estimation and potential resource
mobilization.
By end of September, the World Bank team will develop Knowledge Products to summarize and
disseminate the achievements of the Project.
In the final stage of the RAS implementation the WB team will provide support to the MEWF regarding
the communication around the reporting of the Flood Risk Management Plans to the EU, in the form of
additional brochure for the Flood Risk Management Plans and support for mass media communication.
6.2 Conclusions and recommendations for the future
The Project will be finalized on September 30, 2023, and Output 8 (this Output) represents the last Output
of the Project that summarizes the activities already carried out and the ones remaining until the end of
the project to achieve the main objective of the RAS Project – strengthening the administrative capacity
in water management for Romania and its water management authorities, the MEWF and ANAR.
We can conclude that, despite the challenges encountered due to COVID -19 and other external and
internal factors, the CBP was successfully implemented, and the targets set for the identified gaps were
achieved. MEWF and ANAR are better equipped in terms of capacities for the third cycle of the Floods
Directive implementation, having learned and acquired up to date knowledge on the sector.
Nevertheless, flood risk management is a very complex and technical area where technologies and
methods evolve rapidly. Hence continuous assessment of the capacity building needs should be applied
and dedicated plans should be designed and implemented based on these needs, also providing dedicated
on the job training for the staff. Furthermore, the access to information and knowledge is also
continuously evolving and better understanding and use of the online available resources should be
fostered. Another important source for capacity building and acquiring knowledge are international
forums and conferences. MEWF and ANAR should encourage participation of staff in this type of events.
Finally, as mentioned before in the document, flood risk management is a cross-cutting issue that affects
different sectors, so multidisciplinary teams are essential to promote and foster innovative and greener
solutions. MEWF and ANAR should support the development of multidisciplinary teams to facilitate the
collaboration with the different sectors affected by flood risk. To conclude the report, the provided CBP
should be used to guide the planning and implementation of the continuous training of the staff including
the update of this strategic and living document reflecting the current context.
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List of Annexes
Annex 1 – Capacity Building Plan
Annex 2 – List of implemented activities to enhance the capacities of the Romanian water
authorities
Annex 3 – List of the training sessions
Annex 4 – Minutes of the Workshop on 2nd cycle of Floods Directive implementation
lessons learned
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Competence makes a difference!
Project selected under the Administrative Capacity Operational Program, co-financed by European Union from the
European Social Fund