News, December 2025

During December 2025, two very important international meetings were organized in which representatives of ALBCOLD participated as follow.

1- On 08.12.2025, the Meeting of Representatives of the European Dam Safety Authorities Network (EDSAN) was organized. At this meeting, the annual meeting of EDSAN in Bergen, Norway on 27-30 April 2026 was analyzed and discussed.  They disucss on the main topics of the annual meeting. There will be presentations by representatives of 15 European countries regarding the main events and issues in their countries. Then, issues related to the strengthening and updating of the legal framework in Europe will be addressed, aspects related to the safety requirements of small dams as well as the requirements related to the construction of floating solar plants in reservoirs created by dams. Regarding the issue of the legal framework, it was requested to cooperate with EURCOLD, which has prepared a report on the legal framework in 12 European countries, and to request this organization to update this report with the latest developments and updates that have been carried out during the last years and in particular in Spain and Italy.

Then the representatives of Scotland and Spain presented some issues related to floods and the safety of small dams in their countries.

At the end of the meeting, the Representative of Norway gave details regarding the organization of the meeting in Bergen, Norway on the 27th-30th where in addition to the official session of the meeting there will also be a field visit to see up close the organization of dam monitoring in Norway.

2- On 09.12.2025, the Meeting of the Board of Directors of the European Club of ICOLD (EURCOLD) was organized, attended by representatives of 19 European countries that are members of ICOLD. We emphasize that 26 European Dam Committees in ICOLD participate in this club, which also constitute the largest regional group in this international organization. In Europe, more than 8,000 large dams and approximately 35,000 small dams have been built. The meeting analyzed and discussed several key issues, as follows:

a- Annual report on the activities and work of EURCOLD carried out  during 2025

This report was presented by the President of EURCOLD, Ms. Sera Lazaridou who focused on the priorities and activities implemented during 2025 such as

• Support and Promotion of European Working Groups.
• Promotion of the participation of young engineers in EURCOLD activities.
• Promotion of capacity development in the dam sector.
• Organizational strategy achieved.
• Update regarding the Working Groups and European Dam Committees.

b- Amendments and Amendments to the 1995 EURCOLD Constitution

During the meeting, the necessary amendments to be made to the EURCOLD Constitution, which was approved drafted in the year of the establishment of this Club in 1995, were discussed. All participants agreed and approved the amendments proposed by the working group which consisted of the amendments to section 5 regarding the EURCOLD Board, the amendments to sections 6 and 7 regarding the EURCOLD Secretary General and EWG working groups.

c- EURCOLD activities during the ICOLD Annual Meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico on 21-27 May 2026 and the EURCOLD Symposium on 20-26 September 2026 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

During the meeting, it was discussed about the active participation of the European Dam Committees in the ICOLD Annual Meeting on the theme “Water, Energy and Society” as well as about the anticipated meeting of the EURCOLD Steering Board during this Meeting to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico on 22-29 May 2026.

The main topics to be addressed at the ICOLD Annual Meeting are:

• Dam Safety and Governance Policies.
• Water Planning and Climate Change Resilience.
• Innovation and Technology in the Dam Sector.
• Energy Transition and Society.
• Environmental Integration

The meeting also discussed extensively about the program of the meeting of representatives of the European Dam Committees and the EURCOLD Board in Guadalajara on 24 May 2026.

Also, the meeting also discussed about the organization and issues that will be addressed at the EURCOLD Symposium in collaboration with POLCOLD scheduled for September 20-25, 2026 in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

During this symposium, main topics  are expected to be addressed, such as:

• Management of Dams and Reservoirs Safety for People.
• Dams and Energy.
• Dam Engineering and Construction.
• Embankments and Dams

d-Election of the President of EURCOLD for the period 2026-2028.

According to the Statute of EURCOLD, during the meeting the process of electing the President of EURCOLD for the period 2026-2028 took place. The President of POLCOLD, Mr. Piotr Sliwinski presented the candidacy of Mr. Arjan Jovani – former Chairman of the Albanian Committee of Large Dams (ALBCOLD), providing also a summary of information regarding his participation in ICOLD activities and the work carried out by him as Chairman of the ALBCOLD.

Then Mr. Arjan Jovani who presented the priorities and main directions of his work if elected as the head of EURCOLD during this period as:

• Support of European Working Groups and the engagement of European experts in ICOLD Technical Committees.
• Support of Invocations in Dam Engineering.
• Increasing cooperation between European Dam Committees and EURCOLD members.
• Promotion of the dam sector by organizing various activities such as the European Dam and Reservoir Day, Dam-related competitions and exhibitions, etc..
• Support and promotion of young dam engineers in EURCOLD and ICOLD activities

At the end of the election process, the EURCOLD Board unanimously elected Mr. Arjan Jovani as President of EURCOLD for the period 2026-2028 with 100% of the votes of the participants in the meeting.