Welcome to the February 2009 edition of the IWC eBulletin.

In this Issue

1. Message from the CEO
2. Creating Water Sensitive Cities in Australia: Capacity Building and Leadership workshops
3. Part-time/distance postgraduate studies in Integrated Water Management – last week to apply!
4. Youth Encounter on Sustainability hosted by IWC in Noosa
5. Mark Pascoe receives the 2008 Medal for Management Innovation
6. Insanitation 2008
7. IWC participates in Sanitation and Water Conference 2008
8. IWC to host three international professional development programs in 2009
9. Partner news: The University of Queensland’s Paul Lant promoted to Professor
10. Partner news: 2009 Integrated Water Management students visiting the University of Western Australia
11. Partner news: IRF Riverprize 2009 calls for nominations

I would like to thank the International WaterCentre’s (IWC) employees, member universities and partner organisations for an outstanding level of dedication. We can all be very proud of the achievements that we’ve made together in 2008.

The International WaterCentre employees have all worked beyond my expectations and we are seeing the results in the activities that the IWC will carry out in 2009.

There is a significant amount of training activity planned for professionals in the water sector, including interactive capacity building events taking place in five major Australian cities – Creating Water Sensitive Cities in Australia. We expect that these workshops will have a lasting impact on the future of Australian urban water development.

The second year of the Integrated Water Management program will have students from a number of different countries. The education team has worked hard to deliver the part-time/distance option for people in the work force or those living outside of Brisbane.

35 young people from 23 continents have come to Noosa to learn about sustainability through the Youth Encounter for Sustainability program, a program that’s designed in partnership with ETH Zurich.

And that’s just the first few months of the year! Later in the year we will be hosting three professional development groups from Indonesia, Philippines and China and many more activities.

All these activities bring us closer to achieving our goal of working toward water sensitive futures in Australia and globally. I have really enjoyed working with everyone and look forward to an exciting 2009.

^ Back to top

BRISBANE – 12&13 February MELBOURNE – 17&18 February SYDNEY 23&24 February ADELAIDE – 26&27 February

Experience a workshop with a difference! Participate in an important professional development event to advance water sensitive futures. The workshops will deliver an innovative approach to sharing the latest international knowledge from leading scientists and practitioners working across the social sciences, engineering, climatology and urban design.

The workshops will be facilitated by internationally experienced industry and social learning facilitators from the Open University in the UK, and hosted by the National Urban Water Governance Program, Monash University and the International WaterCentre.

These workshops offer a rare opportunity for urban water practitioners to shape the future of water management within their cities, and make recommendations for policy development at the national level.

The registration fee is $825 (2 days). Local government representatives are given a special, reduced fee of $275/day or $550/2 days (including GST). For further information on registration costs, venues and program details, please visit http://www.watersensitivefutures.org

^ Back to top

The International WaterCentre offers postgraduate studies (Certificate, Diploma or Masters) in Integrated Water Management through a part-time/distance study option, ideal for people in the workforce or those living outside Brisbane.

Problem-based learning activities train our students to solve real-world problems and equip them with the strategic, managerial and technical skills to advance their careers in the water sector.

The program takes a multi-disciplinary, whole-of-water cycle approach and draws on international practitioners and academics in water management across a range of disciplines from The University of Queensland, Griffith University, Monash University and The University of Western Australia.

Questions: admin@watercentre.org or 07 3123 7766
Application to study Integrated Water Management (Certificate, Diploma, Masters. Full-time or part-time)

^ Back to top

“Until you hear it from other people – people from Nepal, Tibet, Nigeria – until you hear about the pain between the developed and the developing worlds,” says Ragnar Haabjoern from Sydney, Australia, “you don’t get a real experience of the dialogue that needs to occur between countries.”

Ragnar spoke about the holistic global insight he is gaining from the experience of meeting and speaking with other young people from so many different backgrounds. “I now see how what I do nationally can be transferred to international situations.”

The International WaterCentre, a Brisbane-based company, has partnered with ETZ Zurich to host the first YES program from 30th January to 16th February 2009. University students from around the world will explore the complex economic, ecological and social aspects of sustainable development while bringing their own perspectives and experience to the discussion.

A diverse group of 35 future leaders in sustainability from 29 countries around the world have arrived to explore the economic, ecological and human aspects of sustainable development. The International WaterCentre, supported by Veolia Water and GHD, has the privilege of partnering with ETH Zurich to host the inaugural YES Australia course at Noosa, Queensland.

The goal of YES is to bring together future leaders for intensive discussions on the global challenges and opportunities of sustainable development. The program creates platforms for future leaders from diverse backgrounds to exchange experiences, build networks and gather knowledge through a practice-oriented approach.

^ Back to top

The International WaterCentre is proud to announce that Mark Pascoe, CEO, has been awarded the 2008 Medal for Management Innovation by the Australian Institute of Management.

The Medal was awarded at the Management Excellence Awards ceremony. The annual Management Awards recognise managers who lead and inspire Australian business and turn belief and passion into viable, sustainable businesses. The Management Innovation Medal highlights the business and human significance of innovation to the ongoing prosperity of Queensland and Australia.

Mark has been leading the IWC with a clear vision of striving towards water sensitive futures and poverty reduction through better management of water and the environment.

“We want to lead in developing multi-disciplinary approaches to water management and in thinking and planning pro-actively in a whole-of-water cycle context,” said Mark.
Photo credit: gscblog.typepad.com

^ Back to top

Toilets turned into BBQ’s, rocking horses, flowerpots and fish bowls were displayed on 8th annual World Toilet Day in the Brisbane CBD on 19 November 2008. Other toilets in the same exhibition decorated with photos of children who, statistically, may die this year due to lack of adequate sanitation, sent a sobering message about the implications of this problem on health, education and well being in developing countries.

Two Master of Integrated Water Management students, Kristal Burry and Diane Cousineau, organised Insanitation 2008 – a Brisbane-wide event to raise public awareness about this serious issue.

“If we wish to ‘make poverty history', if we want to help reduce childhood mortality, then sanitation is the place to start, for without water and sanitation, we cannot achieve these goals,” said Kristal.

The toilets were auctioned on eBay after the event. The money raised was donated to WaterAid Australia and the World Toilet Organisation to support this “non-sexy” issue, which many shy away from talking about.

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, Bob McMullan, spoke on the Federal Government’s response to the sanitation crisis at the Queen Street Mall at the closing of the event.

^ Back to top

The International WaterCentre had significant involvement in the international Sanitation and Water Conference held in Melbourne from 27-29 October 2008. The conference was attended by approximately 250 participants consisting of water, sanitation and hygiene experts from every corner of the globe, in particular from the Asia-Pacific region.

With 2.6 billion people still without safe sanitation worldwide, and 2008 named as the International Year of Sanitation, the conference highlighted the urgent need to move forward in this area. It provided a platform to review best practice and lessons learnt and devise actions that can provide large scale sustainable solutions in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals relating to sanitation and water. The conference also provided a forum for AusAID to discuss its increased focus in this area.

In 2008 AusAID funded an NGO Partnerships report, which was presented at the conference. The report was prepared by the International WaterCentre in collaboration with the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, and details how AusAID can maximise water, sanitation and hygiene outcomes by working more closely with NGOs at all levels. To read the full report, download here: http://watercentre.org/resources/awrfpublic/AusAID_investment_options

To capture the ideas and discussion that came out of the conference, a stakeholder action plan providing future directions was prepared. IWC Executive Manager, Fiona Chandler, was one of the conference rapporteurs, who worked together to develop the action plan. To view the full document, download here: http://watercentre.org/resources/newsresources/WatSandraft_keymessages

^ Back to top

IWC to host three international professional development programs in 2009

The International WaterCentre will host three Australian Leadership Awards Fellowships (ALAF) Professional Development Programs in 2009. The AusAID funded program allows groups of middle and senior management professionals to study in Australia in their field of expertise in order to build capacity and share experiences of best practice water management. In July a group of 10 Fellows will come from the National Water Resources Board of the Philippines to study Integrated Water Resource Management, while six managers from Indonesia’s Water Supply Association will spend 18 weeks studying Water Supply Management in the Context of IWRM. Later in the year, a group of senior Chinese water professionals from the Ministry of Water Resources will undertake a five week program in Integrated River Basin Management, looking at new ways to tackle catchment management in light of climate change and other challenges.

IWC looks forward to strengthening its relationships and promoting whole-of-water cycle management throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

^ Back to top

Partner news: Dr Paul Lant promoted to Professorship

The IWC could like to congratulate Paul Lant who has recently been promoted from Associate Professor to Professor. Professor Lant is the University of Queensland Project Director of the Master of Integrated Water Management, the flagship program of the joint venture - the International WaterCentre.

Professor Lant has an international reputation for his research in the field of wastewater treatment. He was one of the founders of the Advanced Water Management Centre and a major driver in the establishment of the International WaterCentre, a joint initiative between four leading Australian Universities with the aim of increasing international engagement of Australian education and training in the field of water resources management. Currently he is a Professor in Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland.

^ Back to top

In semester two 2009 full-time and part-time students will be traveling to Albany in Western Australia for field trips and workshops run by the Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management (CENRM), the University of Western Australia.

Students will have an opportunity to learn about water issues in south-western Australia, which include salinisation, eutrification, groundwater and surface water demand management, urbanisation and ecosystem health.

This trip will form an integral part of the semester two course. CENRM staff, headed by Professor Peter Davies, will deliver the majority of the module ‘Catchment and Aquatic Ecosystem Health’ and students will undertake a major problem-based learning activity relating to the issues presented during the field trip.

^ Back to top

Community groups, organisations and individuals restoring their rivers and waterways across Australia and the world are invited to submit their applications for the Riverprize 2009! Riverprize is the world’s largest river award recognising excellence in river management and restoration. Nomination forms and entry guidelines for the international and national category are available at www.riverfoundation.org.au.

Entries will close 30 April 2009. Applicants can seek advice regarding their applications from previous Riverprize winners by contacting info@riverfoundation.org.au [subject line: Riverprize application]

^ Back to top