Charles Fritz, director of the International Water Institute at NDSU, was invited to give a presentation at the Transboundary Dniester River Basin Management and European Union Water Management Directive conference in Chisinau, Moldova, Oct. 2-3. Robert Backman, Fargo-Moorhead River Keepers, was a co-presenter.

The two speakers were invited by Eco-Tiras, a non-profit organization serving as the umbrella for 46 non-profits from European Union countries working with the Dniester River, an international river that serves as the border between Moldova, Transniestria and the Ukraine.

Fritz and Backman’s paper was titled the “Role of Non-Profit Organizations: Natural Resources Management, Red River of the North, USA,” and explained ideas of representatives from European Union nonprofit organizations and high-ranking government and academic officials from Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Transniestria. The presentation outlined the role of the International Water Institute and Fargo-Moorhead River Keepers in river and resources management and discussed characteristics of effective and efficient non-profit organizations.