UNESCO-IHP Help Program Seminar: Stenghtening Water Governance for Sustainability

On June 24 to 26 2009, HELP will convene a Seminar inviting international and local participants in the Guadiana River Basin, Portugal. The Seminar will discuss experiences relevant in the Guadiana River and other HELP Basins, focussing on water governance, sustainability, social learning and the role of community knowledge in integrated water resource management (IWRM). This Seminar will support implementation of the third phase of HELP, focussing on innovations to address the challenges of IWRM and improve communication
amongst the HELP community.

The UNESCO-IHP HELP Program
HELP is a cross cutting and transdisciplinary initiative led by the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO. HELP is designed to develop and apply scientific research to support IWRM. Through a global network of catchments. HELP is creating a framework for water law and policy experts, water resource managers and water scientists to work together on water-related problems. The objective is to deliver and demonstrate real outcomes for real people in real catchments, locally and globally. After an initial pilot phase (1999-2004) the HELP principles were operationalised in the second phase (2004-2009). The ‘HELP in Action: Local Solutions to Global Water Problems - Lessons from the South' symposium, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 2007, captured important lessons in a special volume of Water SA 34(4). This was an important milestone
for the development of the third phase of HELP.

The participation is open, for days 1 and 2 (24 and 25 th June) and free of charge; advisable to send a short  note  (name, affiliation) to aprh@aprh.pt  (C/ Ana Estêvão), in case you intend to participating     

The announcement of this Seminar and additional information (abstracts, biographic notes for speakers and moderators, etc) available at the link:   
Seminário STRENGTHENING WATER GOVERNANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY 

Final programme (PDF); Objectives (PDF)