ISSUE 38: JULY–AUGUST 2005
network of research and training centres/programmes
FRONT PAGE | ARCHIVE |
South Pacific university signs up for Internet water course
UNU International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of the South Pacific (USP) to formalise the establishment of a third regional centre of the UN Water Virtual Learning Centre (WVLC) in the Pacific.
The programme of the WVLC Regional Centre will focus on improving water resource management and water services of developing countries, and to improve training and education in the water sector.
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| UNU-INWEH assistant
director Colin Mayfield (left) and USP Vice-Chancellor Anthony Tarr sign a memorandum to formalise a partnership between the two institutions. |
The memorandum was signed by USP Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Tarr and the assistant director of UNU-INWEH, Dr Colin Mayfield. Later, they jointly opened the WLVC regional centre which is based at the marine studies centre at USP’s lower campus.
The regional centre is part of a pilot programme of the UN’s project on capacity building to improve water management and to accelerate sustainable investments in the water sector. This will include WVLC regional centres in Africa, Asia and the Pacific focused on training in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
The main objective of WVLC Pacific regional centre is to provide adult training in IWRM through a core curriculum in distance learning using the Internet, CD-ROM etc. The project aims to assist current managers, scientists and policy-makers to improve water resource management practices in Pacific island countries.
The programme will target professionals in the water sector wishing to upgrade their knowledge of integrated water management. Its long-term goal is to enhance national capacities to develop and implement sustainable water strategies at local, regional, sub-regional and basin scales.
The IWRM curriculum will comprise 10 courses and will run as a pilot project for
10 to 15 months. The courses include an introduction to IWRM, water
transfer, terrestrial ecosystem and the impacts of land use changes, the
aquatic ecosystem, aquatic ecosystem health and impact assessment, water
use, wastewater, governance and community-based approaches, organisational infrastructure and
management and applying IWRM. Students who complete the course successfully will receive a UNU Diploma in Integrated Water Resources Management.
mayfield@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca
Meanwhile, UNU-INWEH was also celebrating the June 29 announcement of World Rivers Day, the first initiative to mobilize a global response addressing the urgent need for improved management and conservation of river ecosystems worldwide while at the same time celebrating the value of our international waterways.
Millions of people, and thousands of international organizations, are expected to contribute to World Rivers Day on September 25. The event is being led by non-government organizations around the world and is being endorsed by the UNU-INWEH.
Planned WRD events include river cleanups, fish enhancement projects, international workshops, educational programs, and riverside festivals. "It's pretty exciting to see an event that started 25-years ago in
British Columbia evolve into such positive efforts to better care for our rivers around the world,"
said Mark Angelo, founder of both World and BC Rivers Day. "Beyond celebrating our rivers, WRD will also hopefully encourage people to be more active as river stewards and will create a greater public awareness of the many threats that confront our waterways."
Angelo, who is now the WRD Chair, started BC Rivers Day in 1980, which has since become the biggest event of its kind in North America with more than 75,000 people participating last year, province wide. The success of BC Rivers Day will be used as a template for World Rivers Day.
World Rivers Day is already fostering solidarity amongst international organizations focusing on water-related issues while promoting core values associated with sustainability, conservation, and stewardship activities. "Rivers are the arteries of our planet," says Angelo. "And WRD will provide an opportunity for people to get out and enjoy our waterways and appreciate the extent to which they contribute to the quality of life in their communities."
WRD also complements the water-related efforts of the United Nations, which recently launched a 10-year initiative to raise awareness of water issues around the world and halve, by 2015, the number of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water.
© 2005 United Nations University