From 2002-06-13 to 2002-06-15

Venue: UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France

Summary:
The Kovacs Colloquium, is a traditional event held just prior to the biennial sessions of the Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO. It is meant to provide a short, high quality scientific event in themes of current relevance in hydrology attracting renowned specialists and that may be attended by delegates and other participants coming to the Council sessions plus other interested participants, thus the scientific interest of the IHP community is catered to just before the primarily administrative Council sessions. The first five colloquia dealt with:
1st – Space and Time Scale Variability and Interdependencies in Hydrological Processes (1992)
2nd– Subsurface Flow: A Stochastic Approach1 (1995)
3rd– Risk Reliability, Uncertainty and Robustness of Water Resource Systems (1996)
4th– Water: A Looming Crisis? (International Conference) (1998)
5th – HELP: Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (2000).

The 6th Kovacs Colloquium will be devoted to an assessment from a scientific standpoint of the work carried out under the Fifth Phase of the Programme (IHP-V) during the period 1996-2001.

IHP-V consisted of eight major scientific themes. Each of the eight themes will have an individual session in the colloquium. The total duration of the colloquium is planned to be 2.5 days. The first two days would be devoted to the discussion of each theme individually. There will be an invited chairperson and invited presenters per theme to summarize the activities and achievements in that particular theme. The presenters were usually leading members of the working groups involved in the execution of the theme’s projects. The presenter(s) will be followed by a discusser, an outside expert member of the IAHS Hydrology 2020 Group who would comment on the matters aired on the theme, and then a general discussion and questions and answer period. The third day would have a half-day available to conclude the event. There would be a panel to discuss the findings of the previous sessions, followed by the formulation of conclusions and recommendations with an ensuing open debate.

Organizers: International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO (IHP)
International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
Contact Name: Sylvie Sanders
E-mail: s.sanders@unesco.org
URL: http://www.unesco.org/water/ihp/events/kovacs_6/info.pdf