21 March 2007

Water Chief to give talk on world water day

Photo/interview opportunity - 3.30 pm, Thursday 22nd March
UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science
University of Dundee

Alan Sutherland, the Chief Executive of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland, will deliver a lecture to mark World Water Day at the UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science, Peters Building, at the University of Dundee on Thursday March 22nd at 4.00pm.

Mr Sutherland will outline the structure of the nation’s water industry in his talk titled, `Delivering water services: the Scottish model’.

The talk will cover the introduction of regulation and competition to the public sector water industry in Scotland - and how the industry in Scotland has `upped its game’.

"We are delighted to welcome Mr Sutherland to the UNESCO Centre for World Water Day," said Professor Patricia Wouters, Director of the UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science.

"At Dundee we are working to build a new generation of local water leaders for regions all around the world, and there are valuable lessons that can be learned from how we work at home here in Scotland and the UK."

The UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee is the first centre in the world dedicated to developing legal frameworks to help address the pressing problems related to the management of the world’s water resources.

The centre is already engaged in projects around the world, developing frameworks for the effective management of water resources, training a new generation of `water leaders’, and linking scientists, policymakers and lawyers.

At the heart of the Centre’s aims is the goal of ensuring all the world’s people have fair and equitable access to water.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee is a world leader in postgraduate research, teaching and training in water law and policy. The Centre has established a Legal Assessment Model (LAM) for the development of water policy, working with research teams in China, Mozambique and Palestine.

The centre links into 67 water basins around the world, all of which are part of the Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) initiative jointly administered by UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organisation. The Dundee centre is launching a "Water Law, Water Leaders" Masters degree programme which it will teach in-country at these water basins.

For media enquiries contact:

Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk