the water challenge
Water
diplomacy
Food
production
Sanitation
ICT
Energy
water node
2012
Water
scarcity &
droughts
Maritime
safety &
security
Women &
water
Soil
conservation
Comparative
North/South
water
research
ECRAAL conference, Brussels, 25, 26 & 27 January 2012
the water challenge
2012 is the European Year for Water and will see the unveiling of the European Union’s
Blueprint the Safeguard Europe’s Water, which will recognise the global aspects of EU water
policy and reinforce the Union’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals on
accession to drinking water and sanitation, and which is also to accommodate the results of
the Rio+20 of the United Nations on sustainable development. Moreover 2013 has been
declared by the UN as the year for International Year of Water Co-operation. It is not surprising
that the theme of water is prominent in the Union’s policy and funding for international cooperation in research and innovation as wells in other policy areas, such as development and
environment policy.
THE WATER NODE 2012 addresses the theme of water specifically from the optic of
international co-operation in research and innovation. Given that our membership base
spans the research and higher education communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this
conference has four objectives:
 To contribute to international co-operation through basic trust building activities
between research and higher education communities;
 To raise awareness of the international co-operation potential of EU research and higher
education policy and funding instruments ;
 To identify, stimulate and disseminate results of research and projects eligible for
funding in the last years of FP7 or through other appropriate EU funds;
 To build ECRAAL’s critical mass of members from the research and higher education
communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
THE WATER NODE CLOCK conjures up the all-encompassing challenge of
assembling and integrating the various nodes, with the ECRAAL platform itself being the
node at the heart of the clock. The format is flexible in order to encourage multi-cultural
and multi-disciplinary participation. There are 9 nodes on: Water diplomacy; Food
production; Hydro energy; Maritime safety & security; Comparative North/South water
research; Soil conservation; Resource consumption & efficiency; Women & water; Water
scarcity & droughts.
The first session of this three-day international conference introduces the policy,
research and innovation challenge of addressing the water challenge in the 21st century.
The second day is entirely dedicated to research papers presented by (potential) ECRAAL
members on various sub-themes. In the different nodes, the research papers will first be
presented, then discussed, and then the needs and priorities under the theme will be
identified for reporting to the final session. The closing session on the third day will first
hear the needs and priorities identified in the nodes. One final node will be dedicated to
topic of water diplomacy in the 21st Century. A more detailed programme is annexed.
the water challenge
– Draft Agenda –
25, 26 & 27 January 2012
Brussels, Belgium
DAY 1, afternoon
25 January 2012
13.00 – 14.00
14.00 – 14.10
14.10 – 14.30
14.30 – 15.00
15.00 – 15.30
15.30 – 15.50
16.10 – 16.30
16.30 – 17.30
Registration and welcome coffee
Welcome and introduction Luca POLIZZI, CEO & EU Policy Director, ECRAAL
Introductory address
Dr. John Fred Kakule, ACP-EU Secretariat, (invited)
Keynote speech
Future perspectives for international co-operation in research and innovation
projects in the field of water
Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commission, DG Research (to be
confirmed)
The global of the European Union’s forthcoming blueprint for EU water resources
DG Environment/European Environment Agency
World Bank funding for international research co-operation relating to water
World Bank
Question & answer session
Chair: Kirstyn INGLIS, Scientific Director, ECRAAL
Networking cocktail
DAYS 2 and 3
26 and 27 January 2012 respectively
Following the close of ECRAAL’s Call for Papers at the end of September 2011, the thematic
water nodes held on Day 2 have been selected to reflect the content of the research papers
and projects submitted for dissemination of results. For each water node, a speaker on a
topical subject will introduce the challenge of international co-operation on the given topic.
The research papers will then be presented and the priorities and needs of potential projects
identified and/or discussed. A rapporteur for each Node will present the final conclusions of
the Node to the Plenary on Day 3.
The morning of Day 2 kicks off with the topic of comparative North/South water
research. The following morning nodes concern water management related research and
also disseminate the results of projects. In the afternoon of Day 2, the nodes deal with
research and project results on water research and Energy, Maritime safety & security,
Sanitation, Women & water.
The first session on Day 3 will bring together the conclusions of each of the water
nodes, presented by the rapporteurs in each node. The closing session will be dedicated to
the topic of Water Diplomacy and the research and higher education priorities and needs of
the Palestinian Territories in that context.
the water challenge
26 January 2012, day 2, morning
9.30 – 10.00
10.00 – 11.00
11.00 – 11.30
11.00 – 11.30
11.30 – 12.00
12.00 – 12.30
12.30 – 13.00
13.00 – 14.30
14.30 – 15.00
15.00 – 16.15
16.00 – 16.30
16.30 – 17.15
17.15-18.00
18.00 – 18.15
Node 1 Comparative North/South water research
 The necessity of international co-operation in comparative water
resource research in the EU & Africa (South Africa)
Node 2: Water management: water scarcity/drought
 Integrated water resource management (Egypt)
 water supply management (Palestinian Territories)
 marine environment, coastal management, water resource (Taiwan)
Coffee & Tea Break
Node 3: Food production
Guest Speaker: Herman Koeter, Managing Director, Orange House (invited)
 food crops grown in the marine environment (Egypt)
 new innovation cycles in food production (Egypt)
Node 4: ICT and water
 Web Based GIS-water management (Romania)
Node 5: Soil conservation
 Soil and water conservation in the catchment sediment budget
(Burkina Faso)
Showcase
 Multiple solutions to water challenges: bamboo (China)
Networking lunch
26 January 2012, DAY 2, afternoon
Node 6: Sanitation
 Translating new EU technologies to an Asian context
(Greece/India/Bangladesh)
Node 7: Building a Centre of Excellence
 (The Netherlands)
Coffee & Tea Break
Node 8: Maritime safety and security
 establishing bottom-up governance for maritime safety and security
(Africa)
Node 9: Discussion on the topic of women, climate change and water
Speakers
 The challenges of researching the role of women in adapting to and
mitigating climate change (Nigeria), Prof. Stella Williams (confirmed)
 FP7 project: genSet, Elizabeth Pollitzer (confirmed)
 Luisa Prista, Head of Unit, DG Research and Innovation (confirmed)
Closing remarks (Plenary session)
the water challenge
9.00 – 9.30
9.30 – 11.00
11.00 – 11.15
11.15 – 12.45
12.45 – 13.00
13.00 – 14.00
27 January 2012, Day 3, morning
Registration and welcome coffee
Final reports from the node working groups
Coffee & Tea Break
Node 10: Water diplomacy in the middle east: The EU as a bridging actor
 Master thesis: Simona Vackeová, College of Europe, Bruges
 Research priorities and needs in the Palestinian Territories
Wrap up and final conclusions
Kirstyn INGLIS, Scientific Director, ECRAAL
Brokerage event
Universities and research institutes participating in the thematic water nodes in
alphabetical order of country of the researchers’ universities: The College of Europe
(Belgium), The China Institute for Water Resources and Hydropower Research (Beijing,
China), Alexandria University and Zagazig University and National Research Centre (Egypt),
Politechnic of Turin (Italy), Scientific Research Council (Oman), An-Najah National University
and Technical and Applied Research Centres (Palestinian Territories), Technical University of
Civil Engineering (Romania), Institute of Natural Resources (South Africa), Sun Yat-sen
University (Taiwan), Utrecht University (The Netherlands), University of Plymoth (UK).
Other project partners involved: The African Maritime Safety and Security Agency (AMSSA),
Deltares (The Netherlands), ERRIN (European Regions Research and Innovation Network),
Orange House (tbc), KEPA (Business and Cultural Development Centre, Greece).
Consultancies, business representative bodies and cultural organisations may also be added
to this list where they wish to showcase project results in a given water node.