Roundtable on Water Management at the House of the European Union during the opening of the “Guardians of the Rivers” Exhibition

At the opening of the “Guardians of the Rivers” photography exhibition at the House of the European Union in Ljubljana in April 2025, we also held a roundtable titled “Water Management: Where Are We and Where Are We Going?”. Brina Sotenšek from the Lutra Institute presented the current environmental legislation, which alarmingly tends toward excluding civil society from legal procedures. It seems that the government is even trying to bypass the results of the so-called water referendum away from public scrutiny. She also highlighted the still controversial practice of investors selecting the impact assessment experts themselves. Damjan Habe from the Revivo Institute discussed the urgency of nature-based solutions, comparing flood protection measures in Slovenia and Valencia, which has suffered catastrophic floods with many fatalities. He also talked about the European directive that envisions removing barriers on rivers. Slovenia is lagging behind in Europe, and we are still waiting for the first (obsolete) dam to be dismantled here.  The situation in Slovenia is therefore quite poor; the nature conservation profession remains unheard, and river management is still largely viewed as a good business.