An international conference titled “Contemporary Issues of Adaptive Water Management” was held in Belgrade on 31 October 2012 under the auspices of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. It was organized to mark UNESCO’s approval of the establishment of a Category 2 Center (“Water for Sustainable Development and Adaptation to Climate Change”) under its auspices at the Jaroslav Černi Institute in Belgrade. The conference was attended by many domestic and international scientists, as well as representatives from international organizations: UNESCO, UNDP, IWA and IAWD.
During the opening ceremony, the conference was addressed by Academician Nikola Hajdin (Chairman of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts), Prof. Radovan Mitrović (State Secretary at the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Development ), Prof. Dr. Milan Dimkić (Director General of the Jaroslav Černi Institute), and representatives from UNESCO, UNDP, IWA and IAWD. The conference was also attended by the Undersecretary for Agriculture of the Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Is’haq Bin Ahmed Al‐Ruqaishi.
The conference was organized to mark UNESCO’s approval of the establishment of a Category 2 Center (“Water for Sustainable Development and Adaptation to Climate Change”) under its auspices at the Jaroslav Černi Institute in Belgrade. The first decision is this regard was taken at the 36th General Conference of UNESCO in November 2011 in Paris, and the final decision was issued at the 190th session of its Executive Board in October 2012. Preparations are currently under way for the formal execution of an agreement between UNESCO and the Government of Serbia, and its ratification by the Serbian Parliament. The Center will commence its activities upon completion of these formalities.
Prof. Dr. M. Dimkić gave a keynote lecture entitled: Significance of UNESCO category 2 water centers in transition countries: the Belgrade Center”, followed by two lecture sessions featuring invited lecturers from Serbia and abroad. The following lectures were given during the morning session: “Climate Change and Mediterranean Water Resources: What do we Know at Present?” (Academician Fedor Mesinger); “Global Water Challenges in UNESCO IHP Intergovernmental Council and 7th World Water Forum Preparation Processes” (Prof. Dr. Soontak Lee); “Importance of the aerobic state of alluvial aquifers for groundwater use” (Prof. Dr. Milan Dimkić); and “Contemporary Issues of Adaptive Water Management ‐ Experiences in the Danube River Basin” (Philip Weller).
The afternoon session featured the following lectures: “Importance of Groundwater Quality Investigations of Bank Filtration Waters of Rhine and Danube for GW Management in Large River Basins” (H‐J. Brauch); “Adsorptive Treatment: An Innovative Approach for Drinking Water Production from Groundwater” (B. Petruševski); “Groundwater and Climate Variability ‐ IGRAC’s Experience and Activities” (N. Kukuric); “Groundwater Management Coping with Global Change” (S. D’Angelo); “UNESCO Regional Centre on Integrated River Basin Management (RC‐IRBM) and Africa HELP Basin Coordinating Unit at National Water Resources Institute, Kaduna, Nigeria” (O. Bambgboye); “Impact of Climate Change on Flood Regimes” (B. Radojević); “Climate change in Serbia and impact on water resources ” (D. Dimkić); and “Stochastic Structure of the Forming Process of the River Runoff on Rivers with Longest Time Series in the World” (S. Prohaska).
International Conference “Contemporary Issues of Adaptive Water Management” Belgrade, Serbia, 31. October 2012 
International Conference “Contemporary Issues of Adaptive Water Management” Belgrade, Serbia, 31. October 2012
