UNESCO-IHE says farewell to Rector Meganck

Professor Richard Meganck, Rector of UNESCO-IHE, celebrated his retirement on 2 July, 2009, with staff and students, after having served a six-year period as Rector at the Institute for Water Education in Delft, the Netherlands. He will officially retire on 4 September 2009.

The afternoon was filled with farewell messages and well-wishes from friends and colleagues from within the Institute as well as from around the world as shown on screen in the auditorium.

Dance performances by staff and students provided a welcome variation between the speeches. The festivities continued in the Institutes cafeteria and garden where everyone had a chance to say goodbye to the Rector.

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András Szöllösi-Nagy new rector at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education

UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education announces a change in leadership. The new Rector, Professor András Szöllösi-Nagy, will start his appointment on 5 September 2009.

Prior to his appointment in Delft, the Netherlands, Professor Szöllösi-Nagy was Director of the Division of Water, Secretary of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and Deputy Director-General of the Natural Sciences Sector of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

During his tenure at UNESCO Professor Szöllösi-Nagy was able to significantly reinforce UNESCO's response capacities in the area of freshwater through a variety of actions. "UNESCO's freshwater programmes are the strongest water programmes within the entire UN system," he said.

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UNESCO-IHP, UNESCO-IHE and International Water History Association offer course on World History of Water Management

A 5-day short course on the "World History of Water Management" will be offered in September 2009, drawing both on historical experiences from different parts of the world and on experts from the International Water History Association (IWHA). Many of these are involved in the UNESCO "History of Water and Civilization" project, and in the framework of cooperation among IWHA, UNESCO-IHP, and UNESCO-IHE.

The course aims to (1) provide a comprehensive overview of archaeological and historical developments in water management including water harvesting, water supply, transportation, delivery, treatment, hydraulic engineering and allocation (with contributions including the physical sciences, technology, ecology, engineering, organisation, politics, law, anthropology, and governance) in different parts of the world and within various cultural contexts; (2) develop an appreciation of the role of cultural factors that affect the management of water resources, especially at times of perceived water scarcity, and (3) comprehend the historical antecedents of our current paradigm of water management and what can be learned from historical case studies on the basis of the knowledge and experience of several scholars from different countries and from the exchange of experiences to be generated between course participants and experts.

The course also constitutes a contribution to the UNESCO-led United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).

More info on the short course [PDF format]

New environmental information system available for Africa

A new environmental information system (SIEREM) for Africa is available, which provides metadata for hydrometrical and meteorological stations, spatial information like catchment boundaries, rainfall grids and a geo-referenced photo album. HydroSciences Montpellier Laboratory has developed the system, which can be freely downloaded and used by all FRIEND groups in Africa and other UNESCO programmes. IRD provides the data base architecture for FRIEND. Now IRD provides with SIEREM an additional platform for any users dealing with water and climate issues in Africa.

SIEREM website

Stockholm Water Week side event: "IWRM at River Basin Level in coping with Global Changes"

The IWRM Guidelines at River Basin Level, launched by UNESCO during the 5th World Water Forum as a contribution to World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) was published in order to provide basic principles for decision makers and help practitioners in implementing IWRM under their own circumstances. Since the announcement, the Guidelines have been already utilized as training material for practitioners.

This side event focuses on what are "Keys for Success for IWRM implementation at River Basin level'', with special focus on Global Changes. This event is organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan (MLIT) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Date and venue: Sunday, August 16th, 17h45-18h45, Stockholmsmässan Room K24

For more information contact Mr Toshihiro Sonoda or read more

Tailor made training Saudi Arabia

UNESCO-IHE's Water Engineering Department acquired a new project to develop and deliver a tailor-made training in port operations for 15 participants coming September. The training will be for the Maritime Studies Department of the King Abdul-Aziz University (KAU) in Saudi Arabia.

For this reason, the President of the Maritime Studies Department, Dr Salem Bin Marzouq Alhrby, will visit UNESCO-IHE in August to discuss a proposed cooperation agreement between the KAU and UNESCO- IHE. Talks will also include the possibility of sending graduate students to UNESCO-IHE, as well as cooperation on a number of marine projects in the Netherlands and/or Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other matters of mutual interest.

More information

"Mother River of China" on focus: Climate Change Partnership Framework marched into Year II implementation

The Year II implementation for Climate Change Partnership Framework, (UNESCO’s component) went into force on 10th July 2009. As the first joint UN initiative in China, sponsored by the Spanish MDG-Fund, Climate Change Partnership Framework is aimed to address the pressing climate change challenges in China from perspectives of policy innovation, improved mitigation and adaptation strategies, along with capacity building. UNESCO has been taking an active role in the initiative during the first year implementation. Based on solid expertise of UNESCO-IHP, the works of UNESCO has been endeavored to promote sustainable water management for the Yellow River, which is often referred as the "Mother River of China", within the context of climate change. Taking a holistic approach, and with reference to template of the World Water Assessment Programme, the project has enabled enclosure of a case study report on Yellow River into the latest launched World Water Development Report III. It is for the first time that a Chinese great river is presented onto the multi-lateral forum, and has received positive feedback from international audiences.

To ensure project sustainability, the project has also set up an international research network, generating knowledge product such as the Assessment Report of Climate Change Impacts and Water Resources in the Yellow River Basin, representing pioneering research expertise on water resources and climate change in the Yellow River Basin. In its second year implementation, the project will continue its research on climate change and water resources. Focus has been confirmed as GIS mapping and model construction. Both will lead to scenario development on water resources and climate change in the yellow river basin. Perspectives from stakeholders would be well taken to ensure a participatory approach throughout project lifecycle.

UNESCO taking lead on "Climate Change Risk Management in Egypt (CCRME)"

UNESCO is taking the lead in the extra budgetary project on "Climate Change Risk Management in Egypt (CCRME)" funded through UNDP by the MDG Spanish fund. The UNESCO Cairo Office is implementing this component in partnership with the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in Egypt. The UNESCO Cairo Office organized a comprehensive need-based training activity on Providing Regional Climate Impact Studies (PRECIS) in Cairo during the period of 28 June – 2 July 2009 in Cairo, Egypt. More than 15 national experts of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation attended the training. The main objective of the workshop was to build capacities to understand and simulate climate change models and scenarios in addition to run an ensemble of Regional Climate Models (RCM) simulations for the Nile Basin. The UK Met Office prepared the training material and conducted the training activity.

UNESCO Cairo Office

Access a complete list of water events around the world

Managing Water Resources - Methods and Tools for a Systems Approach

By Slobodan P. Simonović
UNESCO Studies and Reports in Hydrology Series

Water resources management is increasingly interdisciplinary and must take into account complex socio-economic factors and environmental variables.

This volume describes the 'systems approach' and its application to contemporary water resources management, focusing on three main sets of tools: simulation, optimization and multi-objective analysis. This approach is presented in the context of sustainable planning and development under conditions of uncertainty. There are two particular features of Managing Water Resources: its introduction of system dynamic simulation as a tool for integrated modeling and its coverage of the use of fuzzy sets for incorporating objective and subjective uncertainties.

The book combines theory and practical examples, and includes programs and exercises on an accompanying CD-ROM. It constitutes both an advanced text for students of water resources and civil or environmental engineering and a practical guide for professionals.

To order

• Around 10% of the total energy supply comes from biomass, and most of that (80%) comes from the 'traditional' biomass sources of wood, dung and crop residues.
• Globally, irrigation water allocated to biofuel production is estimated at 44 km3, or 2% of all irrigation water. Under current production conditions it takes an average of roughly 2,500 litres of water (about 820 litres of it irrigation water) to produce 1 litre of liquid biofuel (the same amount needed on average to produce food for one person for one day).
• The share of irrigation water used for biofuel production is negligible in Brazil and the European Union and is estimated to be 2% in China and 3% in the United States.
• Implementing all current national biofuel policies and plans would take 30 million hectares of cropland and 180 km3 of additional irrigation water.

The section "Did You Know…?" is taken from the 3rd World Water Development Report "Water in a Changing World".

- International Hydrological Programme
- World Water Assessment Programme
- UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education
- Water-related Institutes and Centres under the Auspices of UNESCO
- UNESCO Water-related Chairs

Access the UNESCO Water Portal Update archives (starting at issue Nº 85)

For contributions or comments, contact the editor at waterportal@unesco.org