Objective of the project:

The aim of the project was to support the sustainable management of Central European lakes by fostering new, integrated approach.

The EULAKES project (financed by Central Europe) supported the sustainable management of Central European lakes through an integrated approach and a transnational partnership, between research centres and local communities. To respond to climate change and other environmental stressors, the project aimed at identifying a governance model that combined environmental monitoring, risk and environmental fragility assessment and a system of participatory planning.

The four lakes involved in the project – Lake Garda (Italy), Lake Balaton (Hungary), Lake Neusiedl (Austria) and Lake Charzykowskie (Poland) – are so called multipurpose lake. In fact, they served as potential habitats for indigenous wildlife, drinking water sources and had high recreational capacity. In the last ten years, the ecosystems of all these lakes were showing significant increasing vulnerability. In particular, they suffered the impact of climate change, which added to problems related to land use, tourism, water quality, ecological biodiversity and new invasive species.

In order to evaluate different climate change scenarios, which consider the lakes’ ecological status and environmental risk, the project harmonized vulnerability and risk assessment methods.

The project contributed to:

• support the development and implementation of long-term lake management plans which emphasize natural resources conservation, management and adaptation,
• promote the sustainable management of the lakes natural resources through an innovative multi-stakeholder platform,
• build awareness among local communities and different economic and political sectors;
• improve collaboration with other Central European lake regions.