Contact info and links to groups and teams will gradually be included here and in the section "Meeting Points". For more details about the work programme and responsibility of different groups and teams, see the UNEP Project Document.

• The overall co-ordination of the work of the participating individuals and institutions will take place through Focal Points for each of the 66 subregions.
  
  
• They will participate in the work of 9 Megaregional Task Teams, supported and assisted by a Core Team of full-time specialists covering both regional and thematic concerns.
  
  
• The Core Team, based in Kalmar, will be advised by and report to a Steering Group of senior scientists and representatives of the major co-sponsoring organizations.
  
  
• Initially, the primary task of the Core Team will be to establish the major components of the GIWA Network for consideration by the Steering Group.
  
  
• The composition of the Megaregional Task Teams, and the links to regional organizations hosting them, will then be decided. In order to provide for an open, democratic and transparent process, the network is intended to be open-ended.
  
  
• The next step will be to complete a preliminary GIWA Assessment Protocol in close co-operation with the Megaregional Task Teams. An approved methodology for making causal chain analyses to examine societal root causes of water-related environmental problems, and guidelines for the making of transboundary diagnostic analyses, will be designed and offered as a primary GIWA product applicable to GEF International Waters projects.
  
  
• During this phase Thematic Task Teams will also be established to identify needs for case studies, particularly in the socio-economic domain.
  
  
• National experts and institutions (assisted by the Mega-regional Task Teams, the Core Team and the Thematic Task Teams) will gather and analyze the information necessary for applying the GIWA Assessment Protocol at the subregional level. As far as possible, this will lead to the completion of regional assessments based on the products of the subregional assessments. Based on existing information, there will be differences in the approach required in each region.
  
  
• During this phase, the Thematic Task Teams in collaboration with the Core Team, will also begin the elaboration of a series of global reviews - integrating information from the regional studies and historical information - based on the outcomes of the work of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development.
  
  
• At this stage, GIWA will concentrate on scenario development and policy options analyses, and focus upon the evaluation of alternative scenarios. The analyses will incorporate a number of scenarios developed on the basis of projected actions taken to address the identified societal causes of environmental degradation. The initial starting point for these scenarios will be "current trends". In effect, from an economic perspective, these analyses will consider the implications of measures to internalize environmental externalities. Different alternative approaches will be considered in order to reach a given objective. From a social perspective, the analyses will consider the incremental cost of measures to encourage the modification of unsustainable social and economic development trends. The uncertainties in the scenarios must also be identified and clearly stated.
  
  
• The predictive phase of the Global International Waters Assessment will build on the studies and analyses undertaken over the entire GIWA work period.
  
  
• The final phase of GIWA will be dedicated to the preparation and dissemination of the global and regional GIWA products. Emphasis will be placed on the preparation of reviews that are easily comprehensible to various sectors of society. It is essential that the Global International Waters Assessment does not remain a desk exercise but is made available to the public in general, to educational institutions and to national and regional authorities. The GIWA meta-database and regional reports should be freely available through electronic communications, on CD-ROM and, where strictly necessary, in hard copy.