This was the underlying theme of the day-long workshop organized by
UNESCO-Institute for Water Education (UNESCO-IHE) and the Asian
Institute of Technology (AIT) on 9 December 2014.
Delivering the keynote address, Mr. Raza M. Farrukh of Asian
Development Bank (ADB), elaborated on the critical situation of water
security in the Asia-Pacific. Quoting from the ADB report “Asian Water
Development Outlook 2013,” Raza Farrukh stated that water security has
five dimensions including household, economic, urban, and environmental
water security, along with resilience to water-related disasters.
Prof. Kazuo Yamamoto, Vice President for Resource Development, AIT,
and Dr. Zoran Vojinovic, Associate Professor, Department of Urban Water
Systems, UNESCO-IHE, delivered the welcome address. Prof. Mukand Singh
Babel, Director, Research Center for Sustainable Development in the
Context of Climate Change (SDCC), AIT delivered the second keynote
address on “Climate Change Impacts on Hydrology, Water Resources and
Water Use Sectors: Cases from Asian countries.”
The three joint Master’s programs jointly offered by UNESCO-IHE and
AIT — Urban Water Engineering and Management (UWEM), Agricultural Water
Management (AWM), and Environmental Technology for Sustainable
Development (ETSD) were introduced by Dr. Zoran Vojinovic, Dr. Sangam
Shrestha and Prof. Ajit Annachhatre respectively. Dr. Gabrielle Groves,
Head, External Relations and Communications Office (ERCO) and Prof. M S
Babel hosted the morning and afternoon sessions. The workshop, hosted
by AIT, also held two group sessions on addressing challenges of water,
agriculture and environmental sectors; and capacity building needs of
developing countries.
