UNU Update: Water management symposium

	UNU Update
	The newsletter of United Nations University and its network of research and training centres and programmes
	HOME \| ARCHIVES \|	Issue 28: November-December 2003

Role of IT in water management
key topic at UNU symposium

The role of information technology in improving public participation in the management of water resources was one of the principal issues covered at an international symposium on Public Participation and Governance in Water Resources Management, co-hosted by UN University and Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAC) October 8.

With four of every 10 people living in river basins now experiencing water scarcity and almost half the world's population expected to face similar problems by 2025, the coming decades could witness increasing conflicts over control of water supplies, both within and across national borders.

Freshwater scarcity is often caused by poor resource management and improper governance, including limited opportunities for water users to participate in decision-making regarding management of the water resources they depend on.

Participants at the UNU/TUAC symposium discussed successful mechanisms, approaches and practices for promoting public involvement in water resources management, based on past and current experiences. They also examined conditions that may facilitate or hinder public involvement, as well as the contextual factors that may limit transference of successful experiences from one watershed to another.

UNU Rector Hans van Ginkel gave the keynote lecture on E-Information and the Promotion of Public Participation. Other speakers included Jessica Troell (Environmental Law Institute, USA), Prof. Syafruddin Karimi (Andalas University, Indonesia), Dr. Anthony Turton (University of Pretoria, South Africa), Dr. Srikantha Herath (UNU Environment and Sustainable Development Programme), Dr. Kazimierz Salewicz (system analyst, Austria), Dr. Brendan Barrett (UNU Online Learning Programme), Dr. Juha Uitto (UN Development Progamme), and Prof. Prachoom Chomchai (Chulalongkorn University, Thailand).

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