The first GIWA Steering Group Meeting was held in Kalmar, Sweden, on 27-28 September 1999.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Dan Claasen, Acting Director, UNEP Division of Environmental Assessment and Early Warning. Representatives from the following Steering Group member organizations participated: UNDP/GEF; UNEP/GEF; GESAMP; NOAA (USA); SCOPE; ACOPS; Sida; Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; World Water Council; Global Water Partnership; Kalmar University; Municipality of Kalmar.

A wide range of issues of importance to the smooth and effective operation of GIWA were discussed and agreed on.

• Development and testing of the GIWA methodology for making assessments and conducting causal chain analysis of the societal root causes of environmental problems threatening international waters will be a key task during the initial face of GIWA. The Steering Group decided to set up a special Task Team to be led by Prof. Lawrence Mee at the University of Plymouth to carry out this work, using the Baltic Sea Region and the South China Sea as pilot regions for the testing of the methodology. This work is expected to be completed in late February 2000.
  
  
• The Steering Group requested the GIWA Core Team to give highest priority to the establishment of the various components of the GIWA Network. This will include identification of Megaregional host institutions, subregional Focal Points, and individual experts who could be come members of the Task Teams.
  
  
• Other issues discussed included data and database management; establishment of communication systems for the GIWA network; a bibliography of ongoing or completed assessments in all regions to be made available on the GIWA web site; and the need for further efforts to secure the additional co-funding necessary for the successful completion of GIWA.
  
  
• The Steering Group made a number of proposals on how the GIWA web site could be developed and expanded. It was also decided that a quarterly GIWA Newsletter should be published, mainly to be distributed electronically. According to plan, the first issue should be published in late 1999.

The next meeting of the GIWA Steering Group is scheduled for early February 2000.