16 June 2004

First Discovery Day on water

Photo opportunity: 4.00pm, Thursday 17 June, Room T4, Tower Building, University of Dundee

With more than one billion people across the world drinking unsafe water and 3.4 million people, mostly children dying every year from water related diseases it appears 'water' is in crisis. In light of this a number of University of Dundee departments are joining forces at the first Discovery Day on the subject of water. The University has already an international reputation for its water-related research and is hoping its Interdisciplinary Centre for Research on Water will be designated a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) centre for excellence.

Representatives from the University will try to find solutions to the world's water crises using cutting-edge cross faculty research. The event will tackle a number of issues including flooding, now commonplace in many parts of the UK. Andrew Black, a geography lecturer will examine sustainable flood management for Scotland.

Dr Patricia Wouters, Director of the University's International Water Law Research Institute (IWLRI) will present outcomes from her recent trip to Costa Rica where she participated in a Universities Partnership on Transboundary Waters meeting. The partnership is an international academic consortium of water experts representing ten universities on five continents, which is seeking to promote a global water governance culture.

Patricia Wouters said, "The first Discovery Day on the subject of water is an ideal forum to bring together expertise from across the University's different departments and tackle the growing crisis in the world's waters. We look forward to these days becoming a regular feature of the University's calendar."

The Geography Department of Geography, School of Life Sciences, the Division of Environmental and Applied Biology and the IWLRI are involved in the event taking place on Thursday 17 June between 2-4pm in the University.

For further information on the Discovery Day please contact Alistair Rieu-Clarke on 01382 344451

By Angela Durcan, Press Officer 01382 344768, out of hours: 07968298585, a.durcan@dundee.ac.uk