The International Riversymposium is organised annually by the International RiverFoundation. The 2020 edition is being held virtually for the first time on 9-13 November.
GWP, GEF IW:Learn and partners are launching a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security” at the end of August 2020. The tentative start date is 31 August. The timing coincides with the start of the school year – giving educators the opportunity to build the MOOC into their curricula. One of the MOOC lecturers is Dr Jackie King, who shares a video message on why the MOOC is more relevant than ever. She says that “we are learning the hard way that everything is connected.”
El viernes 10 de septiembre finalizó un curso dirigido y coordinado por Cap Net Argentina, con el acompañamiento del Foro Argentino del Agua/ GWP Argentina y de la Dirección Nacional de Gestión Ambiental del Agua y los Ecosistemas Acuáticos.
Climate change is getting worse. Floods, droughts and rising sea levels are threatening sanitation systems – from toilets to septic tanks to treatment plants. It is against this backdrop that World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19 November, raising awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. GWP celebrates the day by showcasing five Water ChangeMaker stories, providing hope that change is possible.
On 23 June, GWP Chair Howard Bamsey took part in a panel discussion on water and climate organised by pharmaceutical company Bayer and the Water and Climate Coalition. Bamsey said the water community needs to better articulate the central role of water in climate: “Water is a part of the climate struggle.”
On 27 October, Global Water Partnership and Wuhan International Water Law Academy organised an online engagement session based on the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Governance for Transboundary Freshwater Security. The topic was ‘Does the world need more International Water Law?’ The event attracted approximately 100 participants. “One of the most encouraging feedback was a participant who realized ‘we don’t need to be lawyers to work with international water law.’ We tend to think that it is always lawyers who exercise the law, but the law is there to be exercised by anyone,” said GWP’s Yumiko Yasuda after the event.
GWP-Med is leading the communication and dissemination component in this new H2020 project which aims to close the gap between science and policy in natural resources management. The REXUS project is bringing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus concept to an operational level as a tool for analysis, planning and decision-making, through an innovative integrated approach applied in 5 pilot sites across Europe and Latin America.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Data Conference is held as a virtual event on 16-19 November. It aims to develop a common understanding among entities from all sectors of society of the roles, requirements and arrangements for international exchange of observations and other data for monitoring and prediction of the Earth System environment, including weather, climate and water.
With over 54 shared river basins in Africa, 15 being in the SADC regions, cooperation in the management and development of transboundary water resources is key to economic growth and integration.
