On 25th August a group from Helsinki’s Aalto University Water and Development Department, along with representatives from the Mekong River Basin Commission in Cambodia, visited the HELCOM Secretariat. The group met with Rüdiger Strempel, HELCOM’s Executive Secretary, and Matthew Richard, BDF Project Coordinator.
The group were provided with an overview on the work of HELCOM along with the BDF project. Trans-boundary water management issues and trans-boundary data flows were discussed between the two regions. The objectives of BDF project, the HELCOM Map and Data Service and Metadata Catalogue were also showcased. The FAIR principles, as a template for enhanced data sharing at the regional level, were also presented.
The Mekong River Basin Commission, with support from Aalto University, hope to take examples of best practice from HELCOM for application to the Mekong region. Data flows at the regional level are a particular challenge for the Mekong River Commission and they hope to take some initiatives from the Baltic Data Flows project back to Cambodia.
