15 March 2010
Celebrating world water day on the net
Specialist practitioners from the University of Dundee's UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science will share their expertise with a global audience at an event held to celebrate World Water Day on Monday, March 22nd.
An online conference will be held to showcase global water issues and the multidisciplinary work of the Centre in promoting the importance of water law and hydrological science in order to achieve better policy and practice. It takes place at the Centre during the 18th World Water Day.
The conference will be broadcast live over the internet, both through an audio-visual feed and a real-time transcript of proceedings. Global participants to this free online event will be encouraged to provide immediate feedback to speakers and organisers, and discuss the content with each other via an online forum facility.
The international focus this year’s World Water Day is water quality, and this subject will be specifically addressed during the conference. A number of partner organisations including the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, will be taking part, as will other UNESCO centres in Brazil, Iran and the Netherlands.
The conference will also examine the work that the UNESCO Centre carries out in the Tweed valley, in particular the interface between land use and water management. Comparisons will be made with other UK river valleys, such as the Dee and the Thames.
Deputy Director Chris Spray said this was the first time that the Dundee Centre had hosted such an event. He is confident that it will attract a Global audience of geographers, policy makers, politicians, water services providers, regulators, agricultural organisations, environmentalists, and political scientists.
'Valuing water and being aware of the impact that its use and misuse has on livelihoods is as important in the Tweed and Dee valleys in Scotland as it is anywhere in the world,' he said. 'On World Water Day we will celebrating the importance of water and promote its wise use and proper management for the benefit of all.'
John Francis, Deputy Chair of the UNESCO Scotland Committee, said, 'We welcome and support this initiative on the occasion of World Water Day 2010. It is essential that there is ongoing dialogue and extensive global out-reach on such an important subject.
'The potential development of longer term partnerships and other kinds of working relationships will reflect the shared concern that we all have for the future of the world’s freshwater resources.'
World Water Day was inaugurated in 1993, since when it has been a focus globally for action on water issues, including promoting fair and equitable access to transboundary watercourse and groundwater resources of freshwater.
The website is now live, and anyone wishing to participate should visit
www.be2camp.com/page/world-water-day-workshop. More information is available by contacting Daniel Gilbert on 01382 386478 or emailing d.gilbert@dundee.ac.uk.
Notes to editors:
The UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science operates under the auspices of UNESCO and forms part of Postgraduate School of Management and Policy at the University of Dundee.
The Centre is the world’s only UNESCO Centre combining water law, policy and science; its multidisciplinary approach ensures that it is able to draw upon the full range of academic and practical expertise needed to effect real benefits for real rivers.
As part of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme, the Centre is establishing a global network of basins to improve the links between hydrology and the needs of society. The Centre is committed to local capacity building and an empowerment agenda; it is focussing its teaching resources on developing the next generation of global water leaders through its Water Law Water Leaders flexible educational programmes.
For further information please contact:
Daniel Gilbert
Knowledge Exchange Coordinator
UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science
Peters Building
Universityof Dundee
Dundee DD1 4HN
Email: d.gilbert@dundee.ac.uk
Phone: 01382 386478
Website: www.dundee.ac.uk/water/.
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277 |
