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Welcome from Prof. Patricia Wouters, Centre Director

 

Water law, policy and science are central to the global water challenge. The need is acute; more than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and a scary 2.4 billion are without adequate sanitation. See our uploaded publications; editions of Featured Research from our Network (FRETWORK); and our two page summary document.

Our work is practical and results-focused; to maximise our impact, we are focused on both building local capacity for water leadership globally and demonstrating the accessibility and utility of our research to decision makers; this summer (see BBC news item).

August 2011 saw the second annual International Water Law Workshop here in Dundee, which turned out to be even more successful than the first one in 2010. In 2012, we will be hosting the third annual International Water Law Workshop in June. Dundee will be represented by our Centre at Marseille World Water Forum in March 2012. In line with achieving the Centre's objectives, our Centre will be working closely with our Scottish and international partners to make the UN International Year of Water Cooperation, 2013 a grand success.

Global Symposium

The 1997 UN Watercourses Convention – What Relevance in the 21st Century?

       

  5^th – 8^th June 2012, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK

 The IHP-HELP Centre for Water Law, Policy & Science (under the auspices of UNESCO) and WWF will co-organise a symposium on the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention.  The aim of the symposium is to gather together a wide and diverse range of viewpoints from academia, government, international organisations, and civil society,  to debate the existing and potential relevance of this global framework instrument. 

Towards this endeavour the convenors of the symposium are inviting papers on a range of topics related to the UNWC. The organisors would be particularly keen to receive abstracts that explore,

• the value of a global framework/ regime for the governance of international watercourses,
• the lessons that could be learnt from the experiences of entry into force and implementation of other global or regional treaty regimes (e.g. Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Wetlands), and
•  the mechanisms that should be in place to ensure that watercourse conventions are implemented and complied with at the national level.

Paper abstracts of no more than 500 words should be sent to Dr Alistair Rieu-Clarke (a.rieuclarke@dundee.ac.uk) or Ms Flavia Loures (Flavia.Loures@WWFUS.ORG) by 29^th February 2012. Abstracts will then be reviewed by a scientific steering committee, and participants will be notified no later than Friday 30^th March 2012.

For more information: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/water/unwc/.

The UNWC Global Initiative Symposium will precede the Annual International Law and Transboundary Freshwaters Workshop, which will run from 11^th – 14^th June 2012 – see http://www.dundee.ac.uk/water/workshop/.  

 Download - UNWC Global Symposium 2012 - Call for Papers  

Professor Geoffrey Gooch joins UNESCO Centre.

       

Professor Geoffrey D. Gooch joins the IHP-HELP (UNESCO) Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science on February 1st as the Centre's first full-time Chair in Water and Environmental Policy. Professor Gooch, with extensive experience in his field,  says 'I focus on the interactions between science, policy and stakeholders, and bring to the Centre over 20 years experience of interdisciplinary research and training. Science, policy and stakeholders each contribute to our understanding and knowledge of water management, and communication between them is vital for the efficient and equitable use of water. I will continue to lead research projects and training in water governance, and to focus on the ways that law, policy, stakeholders and institutions interact in the formulation and implementation of water and environmental issues'. Professor Gooch comes to the Centre from the University of Linköping, Sweden, where he was Professor of Political Science.    

Professor Wouters says, "Geoffrey has worked with our Dundee team for years now and we are delighted to have him with us full-time. He is especially keen to contribute to the HELP programme, and to share our research in integrating water law, policy and science on projects around the world, with our extensive UNESCO HELP network. This addition of a Chair in Water and Environmental Policy shows the University of Dundee's support and investment in our Centre, which continues to contribute to the University's excellence in this area. We look forward to continuing to make our contribution -- across Scotland and around the globe, supporting the Scotland Hydro-Nation initiative and the UNESCO HELP programme." Access cv here- geoff cv

Focus on Africa

       

Prof. Wouters (Center)  John Nyaoro, Kenyan delegate (Left) and Simon Thuo, Eastern Nile (right)

 

In furthering its contribution to developing cooperation in the management of transboundary water resources, the Centre continues its work in Africa. Professor Wouters was invited to provide a Keynote Address -- "Coping by Cooperating" at the 3rd Nile Basin Development Forum (26-28 October 2011) in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting brought together several hundred stakeholders from across the Nile including high level Ministerial delegates. The meeting resulted in the Kigali Declaration and Kigali Recommendations, which focus on the central theme of this year's meeting - "Climate Change and its Implications for Sustainable Development and Cooperation in the Nile Basin" The documents can be accessed here - Pat Kigali Presentation/kigali declaration/Kigali recommendations      

UNESCO and Scotland

Through its Scotland Committee, the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) has a strong network of civil society organizations, institutions and individuals, contributing to the work and aims of UNESCO, both in Scotland and further afield; IHP-HELP Centre Director Patricia Wouters is a longstanding and active member of the Scotland Committee. 

News: UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova engaged in a very lively discussion with the members of the Scotland Committee of the United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO during her visit to Edinburgh on 29 June 2011; more.

Regional Coordination Unit for HELP in Europe

We operate under the auspices of UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme - Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (IHP-HELP).  We are pleased to collaborate with Fellow UNESCO Centres that are complementary to our work.

HELP has established a global network of river basins deploying hydrological science in support of improved integrated catchment management and public engagement. As part of Our IHP-HELP Centre Objectives and Functions we operate the European HELP Basins Reginal Coordination Unit on behalf of UNESCO.

HELP International Symposium 2011

HELP International Symposium 2011 “Building Knowledge Bridges for a Sustainable Water Future”, Panama City, Republic of Panama, from November 21 to 24, 2011; download IHP HELP Symposium background information.

At the Symposium, the IHP HELP Programme organisers aim to exchange good practices as well as in-depth theoretical analyses to help stimulate ideas and actions for better stewardship of  this most essential resource.  

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