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IPCC vice chairman headlines ASCE-EWRI environmental and water resources conference

12 Jan 2009
AIT

Prof. Mohan
Munasinghe

The Asian Institute of Technology in partnership with the American
Society of Civil Engineers’ Environmental & Water Resources
Institute (ASCE-EWRI) recently hosted ASCE-EWRI’s second developing
nations’ conference titled “An International Perspective on
Environmental and Water Resources.”

The three-day conference from 5-7 January brought together 200
delegates comprised of engineers, scientists, and planners from 40
countries representing five continents. A total of 37 technical
sessions were conducted and included a special session by UNESCO’s IHP
Program: “Ecohydrology – An Interdisciplinary Challenge.”

Renowned climate change scientist Prof. Mohan
Munasinghe
, the vice chairman of the UN Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),  which was the co-winner of the
2007 Nobel Prize for Peace, headlined the event and delivered a keynote
address on the topic “Climate Change and Sustainable Water Resources
Management: Practical Application of the Sustainomics Framework.”

To read media reports in Sri
Lanka, click below:

http://www.thecolombotimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1861:ipcc-vice-chairman-headlines-asce-ewri-environmental-and-water-resources-conference&catid=4:featured-news&Itemid=5
http://www.srilankanewsfirst.com/General/8488.html
http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/technology/20090112120108.php

To view AIT’s video report on the conference,
click
here.
The video presentation will be streamed on your computer’s preferred
media player.

Prof. Munasinghe introduced his concept of ‘sustainomics’, which he
defines as “a transdisciplinary, integrative, comprehensive, balanced,
heuristic and practical framework for making development more
sustainable.” The framework seeks to make ongoing and future
development efforts more sustainable in a practical way, as a first
step towards the ultimate goal of sustainable development. Presently,
he is the chairman of the Munasinghe Institute of Development (MIND) in
Sri Lanka; Director-General, Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI),
University of Manchester, UK; and Senior Advisor to the Government of
Sri Lanka. For
Munasinghe’s keynote address click here.

H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag, former Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Chairman of the AIT Board of
Trustees, addressed the conference on January 5 and clearly spelled out
some of the stark challenges facing Asia’s environment. Referring to
the 2008 report on Millennium Development Goals, the chairman explained
that water resources in Asia are under severe threat, and the situation
is expected to worsen with climate change. As demand for natural
resources increases, and waste water increases, the degradation of the
natural environment will also increase, he said. Dr. Tej, however,
expressed hope that such gatherings of leading specialist policy
makers, engineers, and academicians, would contribute to finding
solutions for the problems he described.

AIT President Prof. Said Irandoust, following his
official welcome to the delegates, commented on the challenges faced by
the scientific community working in the water resources and environment
fields. The provision of water supply and sanitation, securing food for
growing populations and maintaining ecosystems are all enormous
challenges, he said. “Climate change is a cross-cutting issue impacting
natural and human systems, in most cases unfavorably. Thus, we need to
strive hard to develop knowledge, technologies, and capacities to
address these emerging challenges, including those imposed by climate
change, one of the themes of this conference,” said President
Irandoust.

The president added that AIT initially started with ‘water resources’
with a specialization in ‘hydraulic engineering’ as its first field of
study. “Our involvement in this conference clearly demonstrates our
commitment and support towards efforts related to addressing these
issues and problems and to stress our recognition of the significance
of the environment and water resources.”

Another prominent keynote lecturer was Lt. Col. Jerry
Webb
, who serves as the Principal Hydrologic and Hydraulic
Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, headquartered in
Washington, DC. He gave a keynote address on “Risk-Informed
Comprehensive System Approach to Integrated Water Resources
Engineering” at the opening plenary session on January 5.  For Webb ‘s
keynote address click here.

Overall, the event focused on addressing water resources and
environmental management problems. It covered a wide variety of topics
related to water resources, climate change and the environment in
developing countries (especially in Asia), including the global effects
of regional issues and finding solutions. Speakers and technical
session presenters outlined how the environmental and water resources
professions are facing the issues associated with climate change.

The technical program, organized into 37 sessions, addressed
environmental and water resources topics such as Climate Change
Impacts; Groundwater and Water Quality; Air Quality; Technology &
remediation; Urban Watershed Management; Solid Waste Management; River
Basin Management; Energy Production & Management; Environmental
& Health Risk; Irrigation Management; Water Supply Sustainability;
Hydrology & Hydraulics; Water Budget and Evaporation; Integrated
Water Resources Management; Erosion & Sediment Control; and
Trans-boundary Water Management and Conflict Resolution.

Participants included representatives from 40 nations, including
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh,  Belarus, Botswana,
Burkina Faso, Canada, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong &
China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Republic of
Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden,
Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United
States.

Mr. Dale Jacobson, President of EWRI of ASCE, called
the conference an important annual opportunity for some of the best
minds at work in water and environmental fields to convene and focus on
key topics of today. “In this time of climate changes and shifting
resources, it is vital that those working at the forefront of the
environmental and water resources professions share their ideas and
insights from research and experiences in the field, to generate the
best practices for the future,” he said.

Internationally, it is recognized that the human activities have
become the major drivers of change in the Earth’s biosphere. The
resulting deterioration of water quality, overexploitation of
freshwater resources, adverse effects of hydrological hazards and
landscape degradation, as well as sectoral management solutions, pose a
risk to human health and development. The same activities also affect
the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide goods and
services, on which human well-being depends.

This was the focus of the special sessions sponsored and organized by
UNESCO which focused on “Ecohydrology – An Interdisciplinary
Challenge”.  UNESCO officials explained how its Ecohydrology
Program has evolved into a trans-disciplinary scientific program to
analyze dynamic relationships between hydrological, social and
ecological systems; to consider how these act upon each other, and to
seek new ways to balance human and environmental needs for water
resources. Officials explained that the program aims to advance the
integration of social, ecological and hydrological research; and
generate outcomes that enable the development of effective policies and
practices.

ASCE-EWRI is the oldest national engineering society in the United
States. The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USA), East Water, Panya Group (Thailand); PTTEP (Thailand),
Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment, MoNRE (Thailand); Metropolitan Waterworks Authority
(Thailand); and the Royal Irrigation Department, Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives, MoAC (Thailand). Organizers said the
conference was the second in the series of developing nations’
conferences initiated by the EWRI of ASCE, with the first one having
taken place in New Delhi, India.

Dr. Bijay Panigrahi, an AIT alumnus who graduated in
Water Resources Engineering in 1978, was the chair of the conference,
and AIT professor Dr. Mukand S. Babel, was the
conference organizer.

About EWRI

Created in 1999, the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (www.ewrinstitute.org) is a civil
engineering specialty institute of the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE), America’s oldest national engineering society. EWRI
services are designed to complement ASCE’s traditional civil
engineering base and to attract new categories of members (non-civil
engineer and allied professionals) who seek to enhance their
professional and technical development.


AIT President Prof. Said
Irandoust


H.E. Dr. Tej Bunnag


Lt. Col. Jerry Webb


Mr. Dale Jacobson


Dr. Mukand S. Babel


Dr. Bijay Panigrahi