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EMWIS Flash N°41, November 2006
| Released | 30/11/2006 |
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| Geographical coverage | Euro Mediterranean region |
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EMWIS Flash - November 2006 |
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In this issue N°41 (http://www.emwis.net/thematicdirs/eflash/flash41)
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HEADLINE
1- Conference of the water directors of the Euro-Mediterranean and Southeastern European countries
IN BRIEF
2- Mediterranean Water Information Partnership
3- Cairo Declaration of the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on the Environment
4- EMWIS Steering Committee meeting resolutions
5- Conclusions of the EMWIS NFP data managers seminar
6- 4th General Assembly of MENBO - Capacity Building of River Basin Organisations (RBOs) and Mediterranean Cooperation
7- INBO: Invitation to its 7th General World Assembly 2007
8- Bonn declaration: 4th Meeting of the parties to the Water Convention
9- Morocco : National debate on water to be launched in 29 November
10- Algeria: Freshwater in the Mediterranean, a crenel not explored, nor exploited
11- Jordan: National Action Programme to Combat Desertification
12- Spain: EIB financing for Education and water improvement in the Region of Valencia
13- Italy: First national conference on water districts
14- France: Work on the purification plant of "Vallauris-Golfe Juan" began
15- United Kingdom: Right to water
16- Finland: New water protection programme approved
17- EMWIS launches the Arabic version of EMWIS Multilingual Water Thesaurus
18- EMPOWERS: Recommendations for Policy and Practice for Local Water Governance in MENA region
19- Environmental data: Commission welcomes agreement on INSPIRE system
20- FP7 NEWS: Budget and decisions
21- How EUGRIS can help you to prepare for the imminent call for proposals for FP7
22- European Space Agency and Google Earth showcase our planet
23- UNEP: GEMStat Flying with Google Earth
24- Release of Global Irrigated Area Mapping (GIAM) Knowledge Gateway
25- MARS data for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy
26- New strategy for ESA’s Living Planet Programme
27- ESA campaign leads the way for future monitoring of the Earth's vegetation
28- Water shortage to pose serious challenges to countries in GCC
29- Rainwater harvesting has overwhelming support
30- A new "know-how" in the field of drinking water production
31. Climate Change may affect Delivery of WFD objectives
32. NOSTRUM-DSS project progress
NOMINATIONS & VACANCIES
PUBLICATIONS
CALL FOR TENDERS and PROPOSALS
CALL FOR PAPERS
TRAINING
EVENTS
BRIEF EMWIS SITE MAP
CONTACT US / COMMENTS
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HEADLINE
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1- The Conference of the Water Directors of the Euro-Mediterranean and Southeastern European Countries took place in Athens (Greece), on 6 & 7 November 2006. This conference served as a forum to contribute to the implementation of the MED EUWI and review the progress of the main initiatives related to the water sector. The Water Directors recognized the need for better coordination of all processes related to water in the region particularly within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy and called for the organisation of a Ministerial conference focusing on water in the Mediterranean. The conclusions of this event were presented at the 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on the Environment. All the details on this conference (presentations, conclusions, agenda, participants, photos, etc) are available at EMWIS website.
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IN BRIEF
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2- At the Athens conference, the Water Directors of the Euro-Mediterranean and Southeastern European Countries welcomed the progress achieved so far by EMWIS in the feasibility study related to the building of "a regional water observation mechanism". They recommended to carry on the 2nd phase of this activity in 2007 with interested countries and relevant regional initiatives further analysis and first prototyping. A new name was also adopted: "Mediterranean Water Information Partnership". Further information at EMWIS website.
3- Egypt hosted the 3rd Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on the Environment on 20 November 2006. The Ministerial Conference was organised by the Egyptian Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs and the European Commission. The main topic of the Ministerial conference was "Horizon 2020 Initiative" to de-pollute the Mediterranean Sea from the main polluting sources. A ministerial declaration by the name of "Cairo Declaration" has been launched after the conference including a common vision to the Euro-Mediterranean Ministers and expressing the growing interest in environmental issues with the aim at integrating these issues in all fields of cooperation between Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Countries. The Euro-Mediterranean Ministers of Environment welcomed the results of the Euro-Mediterranean Water Directors Meeting held in Athens on 6-7 November 2006, in particular, concerning their readiness to contribute to the Horizon 2020 initiative and other cooperation activities concerning water issues. Further information at EMWIS website.
4- A brief EMWIS Steering Committee was held in Athens the 6 November 2006 to discuss the progress on financing the activities planned for 2007-2010 and on the preparation of the working groups for the same period. A transition budget for 2007 has been defined thanks to the contributions from France, Italy, Spain and the European Commission. The participation of working groups focusing on transfer of know and preparation of pilot projects has been reviewed. Their themes are: participative approaches in Integrated Water Resources Management; Prevention and risk management related to the extreme phenomena (in particular the water scarcity and floods); Non conventional water resources with two sub-topics: the desalination and the re-use of waste water; local management of sanitation services and the prevention of domestic pollution. On themes common with the Joint Process of the Med-EUWI, common working groups will be set-up. A working group on “water monitoring” linked to the EMWIS activities on National Water Information Systems might also be launched within the Joint Process. Further information at EMWIS website.
5- The 15th seminar of EMWIS National Focal Points (NFP) was organised for the data managers of the National Focal Points. It took place in Madrid from 13 November till 15 November 2006. This was the 4th meeting of the data managers since the operational launch of the Initiative at the end of 1999 (the last meeting of the data managers took place in November 2004). It was the occasion to review how to take the best benefits from the new web portal technology introduced by EMWIS and the use the common exchange standards. A specific attention was paid to water documentation management, the use and enhancement of the common multilingual thesaurus/glossary on water (English, Arab, French, Spanish and Italian) and further development of a comprehensive water projects database. The way forward of national water portals was also discussed with a self evaluation of services provided, review of user needs and technological and thematic watch services.
Further information at EMWIS website.
6- The Mediterranean Network of Basin Organisations (MENBO) and GWP-Med organised a Cooperation Session on the Mediterranean Basin, together with MENBO’s 4th General Assembly preceding the Euro-Mediterranean Water Directors Conference. During the Session, which took place in Athens on the 5th of November, several projects (TWINBASIN, MELIA, GEWAMED, SPI-Water), organisations (IME, GWP-Med and EMWIS) and initiatives on IWRM in the region were presented, and some of the discussion topics included water reuse, National plans, EUWI-Med and experience and knowledge exchange. The over 30 participants in the event represented 8 different countries (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, France, Greece, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Spain), and agreed on the need of continuing and improving cooperation in the Mediterranean. Further information at EMWIS website.
7- The General World Assembly of Debrecen will organize its work around four broad strategic topics for the implementation of the management of the rivers basins, lakes and aquifers: 1) Prevention and the management of the extreme climatic phenomena of floods and drought, 2) the management of the transboundary basins, 3) monitoring, inspection networks, reporting, the inter-comparison, 4) development of the programmes of intervention for the organizations of basins and their financing... A special session will be also devoted to the question of the participation of the water users and the public. The inscription to the World General meeting of the INBO (International Network of Basin Organisations) is free. The whole of work is opened to all the Organization-Members and Permanent Observers of the INBO, as well as all the Administrations of water and organizations interested in the Integrated Management of the Water Resources by basins slopes in the World. Further information at EMWIS website.
8- The 4th Meeting of the parties to the convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes held in Bonn (Germany) last 20-22 November 2006, launched a declaration, they called "Bonn Declaration". The meeting marked a milestone in the history of the Water Convention: the tenth anniversary of its entry into force. At the meeting, Parties adopted new policy tools to support transboundary water management. Parties also considered a preliminary assessment on the status of transboundary waters in the UNECE region which is under preparation for the sixth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” (Belgrade, 10-12 October 2007). In addition, Parties agreed on the workplan for 2007-2009, which will include implementation projects to support transboundary water management in the region, development of new guidelines or other kind of soft-law instruments, capacity building activities, the establishment of a well designed information system under the Convention and the transfer of the Convention’s experience to other regions of the world. In light of the entry into force of the Protocol on Water and Health in August 2005, Parties to the Convention made also arrangements for cooperation with the Parties to the Protocol on joint activities. Further information at EMWIS website.
9. A national debate on water will be officially launched on next 29 November by the Moroccan Prime Minister. Its objective: to bring a new lighting on the situation of the water resources and to accelerate the implementation of the reforms of the sector. It is also a question of engaging the process of cultural change and of responsibilisation of the actors, according to a representative of the ministry for the Regional planning. Extended over several months, the process will include on the one hand, a general debate at the level of the hydraulic basins, and on the other hand, technical workshops gathering the national and international experts. Further information at EMWIS website.
10. The Algerian coast conceals important hydrous reserves, estimates professor Remini Boualem, holder of two doctorates in hydraulics and geography. A true reserve which could save the country in the next decades, advances the researcher. Indeed, the Mediterranean could make up the drinking water deficit of the Maghreb countries, not by the desalination of its water [which is still expensive] but by the fresh water recovery running through many resurgences which perforate the sea-bed close to the coasts. Further information at EMWIS website.
11. The National Action programme to Combat Desertification in Jordan is now available online from the website of the UNDP Jordan office that provided the technical backstopping and financial support of the production of the action plan that was officially launched on June 5th 2006. Further information at EMWIS website.
12. The European Investment Bank is providing €303 million to support investment in education and water improvement in the Region of Valencia. EIB Vice-President Carlos Da Silva Costa signed a first loan contract of €250 million to upgrade primary, secondary and vocational educational facilities in the Region of Valencia. A second loan of €53 million will contribute to the construction and upgrading of wastewater treatment infrastructure. Water sector investment will reduce pollution through the improvement of the quality of the effluent that is discharged into the sensitive areas, and will make more efficient use of natural resources in a region with water scarcity. The schemes are located throughout Valencia, whose economic development is clearly linked to the availability of scarce water resources, and to the environmental conservation of the coastal waters. The schemes are expected to be completed by the end of 2009. Further information at EMWIS website.
13. Gruppo 183 NGO has organised the first national conference on the creation of water districts in Italy, in implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. The conference that took place on November 7, 2006 in Rome, was a good opportunity to open the dialogue among all the stakeholders on the revision of the Italian legislation related to water, including: definition and competences of water districts, public participation, relationship between national and regional administrations. Indeed the transposition of the Water Framework Directive in the Italian legislation was formally approved with a government decree (152/2006) published on the Official Journal on April 14, 2006, as a Single Text on Environmental Issues, but without a full consultation of all the actors. Further information at EMWIS website.
14. Confronted at major risks of pollution being able to put in danger the water quality of bathe, the coastal cities build new equipment of treatment of their wastewater and rain water, which is the case of the village of "Vallauris-Golfe Juan" in the Southern East of France. Further information at EMWIS website.
15. The UK was always fighting official recognition of the right to water and now changed its position. The example of the UK is worth considering: they have a social tariff for water, prohibit meters with prepayment and water disconnections and they have been able to select a level of water expenditure not to be exceeded (3% of households expenditure). Few countries are as advanced in practice. Therefore, the UK has decided to recognise the human right to water, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn has announced. Responding to the UN Human Development Report on water and sanitation published last November 9th, Benn has called for a Global Action Plan on water and sanitation. Further information at EMWIS website.
16. The Finnish Government today approved a new set of national Water Protection Policy Outlines to 2015 in a decision-in-principle that also defines measures needed to improve water quality. The decision-in-principle particularly stresses the need to combat eutrophication, which is the most serious ecological problem today facing Finland's inland waters and the Baltic Sea. Further information at EMWIS website.
17. The building and use of the multilingual EMWIS thesaurus based on an aggregation of existing water glossaries and thesaurus (e.g. GEMET from the European Environment Agency, the International Hydrology Glossary from UNESCO, French Water Thesaurus) were presented in the last EMWIS National Focal Point seminar for data managers held in Madrid the days 13-15 November 2006. Today the thesaurus is publicly available online in 3 languages (Arabic, English and French). Spanish will be added in December 2006 and Italian in early 2007. In order to update this thesaurus (e.g. proposing new terms), it was suggested to create one working group for each language using wiki tools or e-forum to reach consensus on new terms, their definition, relevant sources, and relations with the other terms of the thesaurus. Any person willing to contribute to this thesaurus can contact the EMWIS Technical. These terms will then be added by EMWIS Technical Unit that will release a new online version. Further information at EMWIS website.
18. The Euro-Med Participatory Water Resources Scenarios (EMPOWERS) project has recently publish a booklet entitled "Recommendations for Policy and Practice”. This brochure presents a package of recommendations for policy and practice on improved local water governance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), covering: 1) local ownership and governance in local-level IWRM, 2) Community participation in local IWRM, 3) Capacity building and information sharing, 4) Innovations in water and wastewater management, and 5) New insights in decision support systems at local level. Further information at EMWIS website.
19. The INSPIRE directive - Infrastructure for spatial information in Europe- has been agreed by the European Parliament and the Council in Conciliation. INSPIRE will strengthen the knowledge base for environmental policy and make it more accessible to citizens, stakeholders and decision-makers. The directive will cover a very wide range of spatial data ranging from basic mapping information, such as geographical names and administrative units, to key environmental information such as emissions, environmental quality and location of protected sites. At present, this type of data is not always available, nor is it always consistent enough for designing and implementing environmental policy. The new directive sets obligations on what the public authorities of the Member States do with the data they collect. The directive will now be formally adopted early next year and the Member States will then have two years to transpose it into national law. Further information at EMWIS website.
20. The decisional process towards FP7 adoption is progressing smoothly, the Council having adopted a common position on 25 September. The indicative budget allocated to the theme Environment (including Climate Change) within the Specific Programme "Cooperation" is now €1.890 Million. Further information at EMWIS website.
21. A major challenge for those initiating or participating in FP7 projects is to find the most suitable partners in Europe, associated states or target third countries. This is where EUGRIS a portal dedicated to soil and water related topics, can help as it has over 1,700 registered experts in its “Who does What” Directory, including their contact details and expertise. Further information at EMWIS website.
22. Ever wanted to see what volcanic eruptions, dust storms and changing ice glaciers look like from space? The European Space Agency (ESA) has created a special layer of content that will appear in Google Earth, enabling people to see over 130 new ESA satellite images including natural phenomena and manmade landmarks such as the Palm Islands in Dubai. Further information at EMWIS website.
23. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), through its GEMS/Water Programme, is launching a new capability to its scientific resource, GEMStat, by making it geospatially referenced to Google Earth. GEMStat provides environmental water quality data and information that is scientifically credible, accessible and interoperable. GEMStat’s website at http://www.gemstat.org shares surface and ground water quality data sets collected from the GEMS/Water Global Network, including over 2,743 stations, two million records, and over 100 parameters. These data serve to strengthen the scientific basis for global and regional water assessments, indicators and early warning. This news item follows UNEP’s announcement on 13 September 2006 of its partnership with Google Earth, designed to offer a new way of visualizing our changing global environment using satellite images. On the other hand, UNEP convened the third meeting of its Technical Advisory Group for its GEMS/Water Programme from 25 to 26 September 2006. The meeting was hosted by UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) in Cambridge, and brought together technical and scientific experts from United Nations bodies and other partners committed to environmental water quality and sustainability. The fourth advisory meeting is scheduled for early 2008. Further information at EMWIS website.
24. The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) announcd the release of the Global Irrigated Area Mapping (GIAM) knowledge gateway: http://www.iwmigiam.org . This is the first satellite sensor based global map of irrigated area. The site provides country-by-country statistics of irrigated areas. The web map option allows you to quickly zoom into area of your interest and produce an irrigated area map of your area. All data and products are available for download from the web portal (http://www.iwmigiam.org). Further information at EMWIS website.
25. MARS STAT (Monitoring Agricultures with Remote Sensing Techniques) indicated a probable decrease in production of European crop yield due to July heat waves and dry conditions. Part of the AGRIFISH Unit of the Joint Research Centre, MARS activities are not limited to crop forecasting, they also include the enforcement of antifraud initiatives. MARS satellite images enable to monitor if a farmer, having received subsidies, complies with his commitment not to plant crops in order for natural habitat to take root. Further information at EMWIS website.
26. Apprehending the large scale processes of global change faced by Earth is the new science strategy that will support Living Planet Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). Conceived in the mid-1990s, the ESA Living Planet Programme is designed to provide data that underpin operational services, even if it will also contribute significantly to Earth Science through the collection of long time series of Earth observation. The Living Planet Programme includes the development of the space component for GMES in close cooperation with the European Commission. Further information at EMWIS website.
27. A novel measuring technique that has the potential to map photosynthesis on a global scale from space proves possible, as the results from last year's intensive SEN2FLEX campaign are reviewed at a recent workshop. Results from the campaign also realised important definitions for the Sentinel-2 mission, as well as feedback to aid the management of Europe's water resources. Further information at EMWIS website.
28. The scarcity of water resources in GCC countries is expected to create serious environmental challenges for all these countries in the future if it is not properly addressed, warned an expert. Dr Zain Al Abden Al Sayed Rizk, Dean, Institute of Environment, Energy & Water, said, "The Gulf region is faced with a lot of challenges in terms of environment, water resources management and energy. We urgently need to address these issues to avert the risks and adverse consequences as a result of deficiency in water and energy." Further information at EMWIS website.
29. British homeowners have given their strong backing to collecting and recycling rainwater to save their demand on mains water usage. Nine out of 10 believe installing rainwater harvesting systems would be beneficial. Nearly a third would be more likely to buy a house if it had a rainwater harvesting system already installed. Further information at EMWIS website.
30. Eole-Tech is a French company which developed and patented a device of water production by wind power. This ecological process, allows a contribution on the water quality, without well nor drilling. This technology based on the dehumidification of the air, brings a complementary solution in all the places where pumping is impossible (inexistent groundwater resources, too deep or polluted), but also in the emergencies, following earthquakes or epidemics. Further information at EMWIS website.
31. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to achieve good status for all European waters by 2015. It establishes a framework for water management and policy based on the principle of integrated river basin management. The possible direct and indirect impacts of climate change on freshwater ecosystems are not well understood and have received relatively little attention to date. In particular, the Directive does not mention risks posed by climate change to the achievement of its environmental objectives. Nevertheless, the time scale for its implementation process extends into the 2020s, when climate models predict changes in temperatures and precipitations. A group of British researchers has recently assessed the main risks posed to the delivery of the WFD’s objectives by climate change from a UK perspective. The scientists first reviewed the latest UK climate change projections and the policy and science context of the WFD. Thereafter, they examined the potential risks of climate change to key phases of the river basin management process that supports the WFD, such as the characterisation of river basins and their water bodies, programmes of measures, monitoring, or associated management activities. Further information at EMWIS website.
32. NOSTRUM-Dss project is a Co-ordination Action funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme which aims at contributing to the achievement of improved governance and planning in the field of sustainable water management, by establishing a network between the science, policy, and civil society spheres. The final expected outcome of the project is a set of Best Practice Guidelines for the design and implementation of Decision Support System (DSS) tools for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in the Mediterranean Area. During the second year of the project (August 2005 - July 2006): - a series of meta-analyses (sectoral and cross-sectoral, disciplinary and cross-disciplinary) have been developed - the Second Issue of the NOSTRUM-Dss e-newsletter have been prepared both in English and French. Next project events are: - the Third Thematic Workshop will be organised on December 19-21 2006 in Milan, Italy, together with the Fourth Management Board Meeting of the OPTIMA project - the Science and Policy Workshop will be organised on February 14-19 2007 in Bari, Italy in the context of the WASAMED Final Conference. Further information at EMWIS water projects database.
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NOMINATIONS & VACANCIES
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33. Mr. Patrick RENAULD has been nominated Head of the European Commission Delegation in Amman (Jordan). He was the Head of EC delegation in Lebanon and he is succeeding to Robert van der Meulen. Further information at EMWIS website.
34. Mr. Hacène BOUTAGOU, has been nominated new general director of the National Agency of dams and works in Algeria. Further information at EMWIS website.
35. CIWEM World of Difference Award 2007: This award was established in 2004 by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), United Kingdom, as a means of rewarding the leading proponents of the practical application of science and engineering for environmental improvement. The award is international and open to all, and focuses on innovative design in water and wastewater projects. The award consists of a trophy, a certificate, publicity for the winning project and a cheque for £1000. To be eligible for the award, projects must: (1) be related to the water cycle; (2) be at least at the application stage and specific, rather than theoretical design; (3) be innovative and achievable; (4) demonstrate sustainability; and (5) be beneficial to the environment. Deadline for submission: January 12, 2007. Further information at EMWIS website.
36. NASA scientist wins WWF conservation medal: The scientist Dr James Hansen is this year's recipient of the Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Medal, WWF's highest award for outstanding service to the environment. Dr Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, was presented with his medal by the Duke of Edinburgh in a ceremony today at St James's Palace in London. Further information at EMWIS website.
37.Nextel Engineering based in Madrid (Spain) is looking for a Hydraulic Engineer, with the following skills: good level of English & Knowledge about SCADA (Sistemas y Centros de Mando y Control) and SAIH (Sistemas de información Hidrológica). Further information at EMWIS website.
38. Water Scientist, Ecologic, Berlin (Germany): Institute for International and European Environmental Policy is currently looking for the immediate addition of a scientist in the field of water to its Berlin office. The responsibilities consists of: independent work on European and international projects in the field of water science and policy, project management including participation in meetings, project acquisition, interdisciplinary cooperation with scientific colleagues from different fields. Further information at EMWIS website.
39. Director, UN-Water Decade Office on Capacity Development (UN-WADOC), Bonn (Germany): this new office will be established in 2007 for the International Decade for Action 'Water for Life'. It will address all water-related issues concerning education, training, and other forms of knowledge transfer and the question of institutional/legal capacity developments towards integrated water resources management and sustainable development. The Director will report to the Chair of UN-Water concerning matters related to programme implementation. Required qualifications include a strong background in human and institutional capacity building for a minimum of 15 years and a proven record of effective leadership and management experience at senior level, preferably in developing countries. Deadline for submission of applications: December 10th, 2006. Further information at EMWIS website.
40. France: The Ministry of ecology and sustainable development announces "concours" for the recruitment of Environmental technicians. Further information at EMWIS website.
41. PhD Scholarship, Glasgow University, UK: EPSRC PhD Scholarship for 3 years duration is available in River Engineering and Management within the Water and Environment Group in Civil Engineering at Glasgow University. Applications are welcomed for research in the following areas: Flooding, river restauration, fluid-sediment dynamics, hydraulic structures and geomorphology. The Department of Civil Engineering is welcoming scholarship applications to conduct research leading to a PhD (3 years full time), starting between April and October 2007. Further information at EMWIS website.
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PUBLICATIONS
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42. RMSU - official launch of the MEDA Water website: The MEDA Water website is, after a test period of two months, officially online now: http://www.medawater-rmsu.org/ , Further information at EMWIS website.
43. The 4th issue of EMPOWERS –Palestine Newsletter is now online in Arabic only (check EMPOWERS Arabic homepage at www.ar.empowers.info where you'll find the most recent developments taking place in Egypt, Jordan and Palestine). Further information at EMWIS website.
44. NetSyMod web site is now available online: The NetSyMoD web site is aimed at facilitating the dissemination of information in the field of planning and management of natural resources. The focus is on the role played by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and, in particular, on decision and information support tools (DISTs) such as integrated assessment models (IAM), geographical information systems (GIS) and decision support systems (DSS). Target users are researchers and policy/decision makers who may find in particular information about the products of recent research projects. The web site include information about recent activities at NRM-Feem, but also about the products of many other international research activities: reports, software tools, etc. The six NetSyMoD phases are used as primary keywords for categorising the materials included or linked in this site. Further information at EMWIS website.
45. Europe’s land cover available on DVD: The Corinne Land Cover 2000 (CLC 2000) maps land cover and land cover changes across 32 European countries using photo interpretation of satellite images. Although this database was primarily designed as a tool for national and European policy-makers, CLC 2000 is also useful for commercial applications such as on-line maps and navigation systems. Further information at EMWIS website.
46. MARCOAST service Portal online: October 2006, the MARCOAST Portal has been online. It provides services such as oil spill surveillance and forecast, water quality monitoring and alert services, harmful algae bloom monitoring evolution and forecasting services as well as water quality assessment. MARCOAST (Marine and Coastal Environmental Information Services) is a three year GMES project funded by the European Space Agency aimed at establishing a durable network of marine and coastal information services. Further information at EMWIS website.
47. ENMaR project 7th newsletter: The ENMaR (European Network of Municipalities and Rivers) project partly financed by the EU under the INTERREG IIIC programme, published last 25th October its 7th newsletter issue. This ENMaR Newsletter will give you a glimpse of a few of these aspects. This issue offers you some information about the European Pilot River Network, about some economical aspects of the WFD and some regional activities. Further information at EMWIS website.
48. The general provisions establishing the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) have now been published in the Official Journal: In Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 laying down general provisions establishing a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, the new framework for planning and delivering assistance has been approved. This Regulation constitutes one of the general instruments providing direct support for the European Union’s external policies. The ENPI will enter into force on November 29 and apply from January 1, 2007. Further information at EMWIS website.
49. Proceedings of the international symposium: “Precious, Worthless, or Immeasurable: The Value & Ethic of Water”
In November 2005, the Center for Water Law & Policy and the Texas Tech Law Review at Texas Tech University hosted an international symposium: “Precious, Worthless, or Immeasurable: The Value & Ethic of Water”. The symposium has published its proceedings as follow: 1) a two-volume conference proceedings prepared by the Texas Tech Law Review (volume 1) the Center for Arid and Semi Arid Land Studies (volume 2), 2) a CD containing the material distributed at the symposium including many of the PowerPoint slides; and 3) video of the entire symposium on a set of DVDs produced by the Center for Water Law & Policy and TexasBarCLE. Further information at EMWIS website.
50. New publication: Fluoride in Drinking-water: Millions are exposed to excessive amounts of fluoride through drinking water contaminated from natural geological sources, and may suffer conditions ranging from mild dental fluorosis to crippling skeletal fluorosis. The World Health Organization's (WHO) Fluoride in Drinking-water provides guidance on this neglected issue, by providing the latest scientific evidence on the occurrence of fluoride, its health effects, ways of reducing excess levels, and methods for its analysis. - New release: New WHO report tackles Fluoride in drinking-water - Full report: Fluoride in drinking-water - Rolling revisions of WHO's Guidelines for drinking-water quality: Chemical hazards in drinking-water Fluoride. Further information at EMWIS website.
51. "Water and Liberalisation. European Water Scenarios", edited by: Matthias Finger, Jeremy Allouche, Patrícia Luís-Manso. The publication is a result of the EC funded project EUROMARKET (FP5). The key sections of the book concern:
1. An in depth introduction to the current situation in the WSS sector.
2. The European water supply and sanitation markets; the institutional framework of the water supply and sanitation sector in the EU: a comparative analysis; analysis of the EU explicit and implicit policies and approaches in the sector; analysis of the strategies of the water operators in Europe.
3. Scenarios on the evolution of the water sector in Europe.
4. Economic, environmental and social implications of the scenarios; major implications per scenario.
Further information at EMWIS website.
52. New book on "Participatory Development Communication for Natural Resource Management": The book describes the major issues involved in applying participatory development communication to natural resource management practices and research, discusses the challenges and the difficulties linked to such an approach, and offers insights and lessons from research and experience in the field. Further information at EMWIS website.
53. New publication: "Inland waters". This report brings a lighting on the difficulties that our societies may face in the field of water, in short, medium and long term, in France and in the rest of the world. The report makes recommendations, as well on the public actions to carry out, with lawful or economic character -, as on the new research projects to program. This work was presented on October 24, 2006 on the occasion of a press conference. Further information at EMWIS website.
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CALL FOR TENDERS and PROPOSALS
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54- Call for tender n°21/FM21_ADIRA/2006: Foundation Marrakech 21 (FM21), association of development, is re-laucnching a second call for tenders concerning the acquisition of two autonomous desalination units powered by PV for the production of drinking water by desalination of brackish water programmed within the framework of the ADIRA project supported financially by the European Union within the framework of the MEDA water project (reference: N° ME8/AIDCO/2001/0515/59610). The participation in the procedure is open according to same conditions to all physical and moral persons from Morocco and the Member States of the European Union. Companies can apply for one lot or the two lots both. The limiting date for the submission of offers is combined with that of the beginning of the session of opening of offers which will take place December 25, 2006 at 10 am (standard time) in the headquarters of Foundation Marrakech 21. Further information at EMWIS website.
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CALL FOR PAPERS
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55- Call for papers for the MEDA WATER International Conference on Sustainable Water Management: The conference organised by zer0-M project will be held in Tunis (Tunisia) on March 21-24, 2007, and its aims are sustainable water management stimulating the interest of people in water saving, considering treated wastewater as part of the community's water budget, considering the substances contained in wastewater as resources and adopting approaches that preserve the public health and the environment. Deadline for abstracts: 30 November 2006. Further information at EMWIS website.
56. Call for papers for the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2007: This meeting to be held in Vienna (Austria) the days 15-20 April 2007, includes many session topics relevant to geomorphology, hydrology and natural hazards. Deadline for abstract submission: January 15, 2007. The EGU General Assembly will bring together geoscientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world into one meeting covering all disciplines of the Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. Especially for young scientists the EGU appeals to provide a forum to present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geosciences. The EGU invites all geoscientists to participate in the assembly, submit contributions to the topical sessions and share their research with colleagues and friends. Further information at EMWIS website.
57. Call for papers for: The German National Committee on Large Dams is organising the 14th German Dam Symposium and 7th ICOLD European Club Dam Symposium from 17–19 September 2007. The general topic is "Dams in Europe – Tasks and Challenges". Besides the overall European view of dam-related questions, the focus will be on topics such as public awareness of dam-related issues and the benefits, risks and economic value of dams, large hydraulic structures and hydropower. For the first time, presentations at the German Dam Symposium can be made either in German or English: simultaneous translation will be provided. Deadline for abstract submission: December 8, 2006. Further information at EMWIS website.
58. Call for abstracts for the Symposium: To celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2007, UNESCO-IHE (Delft, The Netherlands) is organizing a symposium on 13-15 June entitled: 'Water in a changing world: Enhancing local knowledge and capacity.' The title reflects the three most important aspects of UNESCO-IHE’s work: building capacity to address priority issues in the water sector; knowledge as a fundamental component of capacity; and knowledge in its local context. UNESCO-IHE is also holding a worldwide photo competition with two categories, one for alumni, and the other open to all. A special web section on other events related to UNESCO-IHE's 50th anniversary will be available online in December. Deadline for sending abstracts: 1 December 2006. Further information at EMWIS website.
59- The XIIIth World Water Congress to be held in Montpellier the days 01-04 September 2008, has announced a call for abstracts to be due on 31 March 2007. Authors will be notified of acceptance by 30 June 2007 and will receive detailed instructions for presentation of their paper or poster. Deadline for submission of accepted papers (complete version) is 31 January 2008. Further information at EMWIS website.
60- The European Space Agency’s smallest satellite is unsurpassed by any other mission of its type in collecting vital scientific information. The successes the Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS), part of the Earth Observation satellite Proba, were the focus of a recent conference at ESRIN, ESA's Earth Observation Centre in Frascati, Italy. Scientists highlighted the need to continue the Proba mission until future missions become available. To promote the work of Proba and garner further support for its mission, participants decided to present their findings at the 2007 Envisat Symposium in Montreux, Switzerland in April. To this end, Proba Scientific Investigators are invited to submit their contributions to be included in dedicated sessions at the symposium. Further information at EMWIS website.
61- Over the years, the biennial IWA water reuse conference: "the 6th IWA Conference on Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse for Sustainability (WRRS 2007)" has become a major global platform to share best practice and discuss the latest developments in the field of sustainable reuse of municipal and industrial wastewater. An appointment not to miss by research institutions, companies and organisations active in this sector, both in developed and developing countries. This event will be held in Antwerp (Belgium) on October 09-12, 2007. Deadline for submitting abstracts is: January 12, 2007. Further information at EMWIS website.
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TRAINING
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62- The National Water Training Center (CNFME-OIEAU) published its catalogues 2007 of training in the fields of water and waste. These two new catalogues gather on the whole 284 training courses, of which 29 entirely new, are distributed in 428 sessions throughout the year 2007. Further information at EMWIS website.
63- A 4-day intensive course on: “Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination by RO Technology – Engineering Practices” will be organised by the MEDRC in Tunis (Tunisia) the days 18-21 December 2006. This course will provide the participants with required expertise and knowledge to operate the RO desalination plants and give them the guidelines for good engineering practices. Project engineering is the most important part of any project. It considers the process, process and component design, and the choice of all process components. The course will be conducted in French. Forty participants from different sectors and institutions will be selected for this course. Desalination fundamentals will be also covered in this course to help newcomers to the desalination field. Further information at EMWIS website.
64- A 6-day intensive course on: “Theory and Practice of Brackish/Seawater Desalination by Reverse Osmosis Technology” will be organised by the MEDRC in Alexandria (Egypt) the days 05-07 December 2006. This 2nd part of the course is self-contained and it is continuation of the 1st part of the course held in March, 2006. This course is focused on practical application, operation and troubleshooting of Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems, whereas the 1st part concentrated on fundamentals of membrane processes. The number of course participants will be limited to 40 and will be selected by MEDRC / TORAY based on internal procedures. Further information at EMWIS website.
65. 6-day intensive course on: “Operation and Maintenance of Distillation Processes” will be organised by the MEDRC in Tripoli (Libya) the days 10-15 February 2007. This course on distillation practice will be held at the LPI Conference Hall in Tripoli, Libya, from 10 to 15 December 2007. The course is aimed at those who are new to distillation and those who wish to improve their knowledge and understand the operation and maintenance of distillation processes. Further information at EMWIS website.
66. Training Course on Leadership for Integrated Water Resource Management in Arid Countries in the MENA Region and Beyond: This course will help to address the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional water crisis by improving the leadership for water management in the region. It will address the critical elements of leadership for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), by providing an overview of IWRM tailored for drylands environments, an exploration of the governance and leadership challenges specific to water, and presentations of best leadership practices based on examples from the region. Further information at EMWIS website.
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EVENTS (Full Agenda)
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[2006/12/18 - 2006/12/20] 8th IDS Annual Conference, Haifa, Israel.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/18 - 2006/12/21] 4-day intensive course on: “Seawater and Brackish Water Desalination by RO Technology – Engineering Practices”, Tunis, Tunisia.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/17 - 2006/12/19] Joint International Conference ‘Desertification and the International Policy Imperative’, Algiers, Algeria.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/14 - 2006/12/15] "Ultra- and Nanofiltration in Water Treatment" - Workshop on "Operational experience and research results", Aachen, Germany.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/14 - 2006/12/16] Oasis and Sustainable Tourism, Elche, Spain.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/12 - 2006/12/12] Journée technique: Les procédés de traitement des boues adaptés aux petites collectivités, Limoges, France.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/11 - 2006/12/14] Training Course on Leadership for Integrated Water Resource Management in Arid Countries in the MENA Region and Beyond, Amman, Jordan.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/11 - 2006/12/14] International Symposium on the Advancement of Science in the Arab world and Role of International Cooperation - SRO4: Scientific Research Outlook Symposium, Damascus, Syria.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/11 - 2006/12/13] ISIIMM Coordinators meeting, Montpellier, France.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/09 - 2006/12/11] Third Arab Water Regional Conference 2006: “Research Advancement in Managing Limited Water Resources”, Cairo, Egypt.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/07 - 2006/12/08] The 3rd International Conference on Environmental Performance Upgrading: "Water and Energy Saving in the Enterprise", Tunis, Tunisia.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/05 - 2006/12/07] 6-day intensive course on: “Theory and Practice of Brackish/Seawater Desalination by Reverse Osmosis Technology”, Alexandria, Egypt.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/04 - 2006/12/07] International Symposium on Drylands Ecology and Human Security (ISDEHS): Regional Perspectives, Policy Responses and Sustainable Development in the Arab Region - Challenges, Dubai, UAE.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/04 - 2006/12/06] Man and River Systems II: Interactions among Rivers, their Watershed and the Social system, Paris, France.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/04 - 2006/12/07] ISIIMM exchange seminar Lebanon / Morocco Workshop/field days, Marrakech, Morocco.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/04 - 2006/12/07] International Symposium on Drylands Ecology and Human Security (ISDEHS): Regional Perspectives, Policy Responses and Sustainable Development in the Arab Region - Challenges, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/12/04 - 2006/12/08] The 5th Iberian Congress on Water Management, Algarve, Portugal.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/11/30 - 2006/11/30] Workshop on Assessment, Sustainable development and territories, Rueil-Malmaison, France.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/11/29 - 2006/11/29] Symposium ‘Arsenic in Groundwater — A World Problem’, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/11/29 - 2007/01/29] Launch of Moroccan National Debate on Water, Rabat, Morocco.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/11/28 - 2006/11/28] EU Launch of the Dundee UNESCO Centre, Brussels, Belgium.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/11/28 - 2006/11/30] The First International Conference in Water technology: “From Invention and Development to Product; From Research Institutes to the Water Industry”, Sede Boqer campus, Israel.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/11/28 - 2006/11/29] FIDAREC Annual Meeting, Pollutec - Lyon, France.
Further information at EMWIS website.
[2006/11/28 - 2006/11/28] Workshop: Environmental Research for SMEs - Technology Challenges and Market Opportunities in Waste Water Treatment, Brussels, Belgium.
Further information on EMWIS website.
[2006/11/27 - 2006/11/28] Seminar on "Which Mediterranean for 2010?", Brussels, Belgium.
Further information on EMWIS website.
[2006/11/27 - 2006/12/08] 8th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-8) to the Basel Convention, Nairobi, Kenya.
Further information on EMWIS website.
[2006/11/27 - 2006/11/28] 8th EuroMed Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs (Barcelona VIII), Tampere, Finland.
Further information on EMWIS website
[2006/11/27 - 2006/11/28] 1st thematic workshop of the EU project NORMAN, Menorca, Spain.
Further information on EMWIS website
[2006/11/27 - 2006/12/08] Environmental capacity building training course, Sardinia, Italy.
Further information on EMWIS website
[2006/11/26 - 2006/11/27] Senior Officials and EuroMed Committee meetings, Tampere, Finland.
Further information on EMWIS website
[2006/11/26 - 2006/11/29] 2nd International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environment, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Further information on EMWIS website
[2006/11/24 - 2006/11/24] CEN Workshop on MBR standardisation, Berlin, Germany.
Further information on EMWIS website
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- This is a monthly Flash provided by the EMWIS Technical Unit (sent to: 10758 subscribers), to which you can get a free subscription, click here for an open subscription.
- The EMWIS Flash gives you regular and quality information on the water sector in the Euro-Mediterranean area. The main headlines are: Institutions, Documentation, Training, Research and Development, Data Administration. You will also find updates on: international events, relevant web sites, the Euro-Med Water programme of the European Commission, and much more ...
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