Using a systemic approach to address the requirement for Integrated Water Resource Management within the Water Framework Directive.

Sustainable management of water resources calls for integration of ideas and approaches and revolves around assessment of causal-effect relationships as tools towards defining informed mitigation options and planning. The current paper presents a new holistic approach developed within the Globaqua Coordination Project that combines indicator-based well-established and tested concepts towards developing informed Programmes of Measures and River basin management plans: a. The DPSIR framework that has been engaged as central instrument to address the Water Framework Directive requirements and the concepts embedded in the Integrated Water Resource Management; b.