Recognizing the importance of exchange of experience on the establishment and functioning of joint bodies, the Parties to the Water Convention have included in the Work Programme for 2013–2015 two workshops to promote the exchange of experience and good practices between joint bodies worldwide and to draw lessons learned and recommendations.

The First Workshop was organized on 23 and 24 September 2013, back-to-back with the eighth meeting of the Water Convention’s Working Group on Integrated Water Resources Management (25 and 26 September 2013).

The First Workshop was organized under the leadership of the governments of Finland and Germany, and in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Hydrological Programme (IHP), Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW:LEARN), International Network of Basin Organizations (INBO), Global Water Partnership (GWP), International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The meeting was funded by the governments of Estonia, Finland, Germany and Luxembourg.The First Workshop convened in the International Year of Water Cooperation  highlighted opportunities and inspired effective practices in advancing the legal and institutional frameworks and tools for transboundary water cooperation. It featured exchange of experience between existing joint bodies, as well as discussions to support the emergence of new joint bodies for transboundary water cooperation. It also provided a forum for networking between different joint bodies and experts in transboundary water cooperation from across the world.