National workshop with international participation
The year 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) and 60 years of UNESCO’s commitment to water sciences. To mark this significant jubilee, WSDAC organized a workshop aimed at exchanging knowledge and experiences and exploring cutting-edge technological applications in water management, including innovations within the water–energy–ecology nexus.
One of the priority areas identified in the IHP-IX Strategy is Scientific Research and Innovation. This priority area encompasses, among other aspects, Activity 1.9 – the development and dissemination of new technologies leveraging Earth observation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT). These technologies, developed by the scientific community and service providers, are intended to strengthen the capacities of water stakeholders, enhancing their ability to apply innovative solutions in hydrological planning, assessment, monitoring, and distribution networks.
The rapid advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and AI-driven innovations continues to transform water resources management, making a substantial contribution to achieving several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to disaster risk reduction and mitigation.
As part of its activities, the WSDAC Centre addresses the interconnections between the impacts of climate change and various aspects of water use, water resources protection, and flood protection. In light of the increasing frequency of extreme events (floods and droughts), the importance of coordinated action—linking scientific research in the application of modern technologies with the presentation of best practices and implemented solutions—is particularly pronounced.
The workshop focused on the application of innovative solutions for flood risk reduction, including the development of Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS), as well as the synergistic application of AI and IoT in the fields of water management and energy.
The primary objective of this workshop was to showcase practical, innovative solutions that foster science-based decision-making, strengthen knowledge and services, and reduce associated risks. UNESCO’s Category 2 Centre – WSDAC provides strong support for the implementation of the Strategy through initiatives of this kind.
The workshop agenda can be downloaded from the following LINK.
The workshop addressed the following topics, all related to flood protection:
- Development of early warning systems for flood protection (FEWS)
- Application of Artificial Intelligence in FEWS data acquisition and management
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods and the Internet of Things (IoT) for FEWS
- Enhancing infrastructure resilience through AI
The workshop consisted of four sessions and brought together 28 participants from the following institutions: WSDAC – Category 2 Centre under the auspices of UNESCO, Jaroslav Černi Water Institute (JCWI), Vodéna Kragujevac, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Belgrade (GRF), Institute for Artificial Intelligence Research and Development of Serbia (IVI), Faculty of Organisational Sciences, University of Belgrade, and Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Minas Gerais (Brazil), as the representative of international participation.
The workshop speakers included:
- Dr Brankica Majkić-Dursun (Director, WSDAC): IX Phase of the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme of UNESCO – Priority Area 1: Scientific Research and Innovation in Water Practice
- Luka Stojadinović (JCWI): Flood Early Warning System Kolubara
- Marija Milovanović (JCWI): Mobile Application for FEWS
- Boško Laković (Vodéna): VodostAI – AI-Based Software Platform for Flood Prediction and Prevention
- Prof. Dr Miloš Milašinović (GRF): Deep Learning-Based Data Recovery for Sensor Networks in Flood Early Warning Systems: Towards River Basin Digital Twins
- Dr Milan Stojković (IVI): Enhancing Infrastructure Resilience through AI: Flood and Water Quality Prediction System
- Dr Milan Stojković (IVI): Introduction to ARTIFACT (ARTificial Intelligence for Flood Resilient Infrastructure)
Presentations can be downloaded from the links above.
The main outcomes of the workshop included the exchange of experiences in applying AI and IoT in hydrological practice; presentation of innovative FEWS solutions implemented in the Public Water Management Company Srbijavode; sharing of experiences and best practices in the use of Open Data; identification of potential directions for further development and application of AI and IoT in the fields of water management and energy; training of students from technical faculties and young engineers in the application of innovative technologies; and the expansion of scientific cooperation between institutions.
