IAP Water Programme will hold meeting in Trieste
The IAP Water Programme has organized five most successful regional workshops: China (June/2006), Brazil (July/2006), South Africa (August/2006), Poland (September/2006) and Jordan (March/2007). The last of the six workshops that were planned to help structure the IAP Water Network will be held in Russia on July/2007. To appraise what has been done to the present and to discuss follow-up actions, we will now hold a meeting with the Academies that were responsible for the organization of the workshops. This meeting, which will be held at IAP’s headquarters in Trieste on 29-31 of May, will be crucial to help us build the IAP Water Programme Plan of Action for 2007- 2008. As we have stated in several opportunities - and as emphasized during the last IAP General Assembly - the Regional Networks of Academies of Sciences are key partners in the building up of the IAP programmes. This understanding has led us to work together with these organizations since the preparatory meeting that we held in Trieste on April 2005. Our feeling is that the programme has achieved a very intense and profitable collaboration with a few networks, but this relationship can still be improved. For this reason we would like to invite you to participate on this meeting with us. Participants are asked to arrive in Trieste on the 28th of May, since the meeting will start in the morning of May 29. On the first day the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, lead Academy to the programme, will present an overview on the state of the art of the programme. This will be followed by a session where the Academies that have hosted the workshops will appraise what has been done. In sequence, the Regional Networks will be invited to present their views on what has been achieved and suggested how can the links with the programme be strengthened. The second day will be dedicated to an open discussion, where participants will brainstorm on the IAP Water Programme. The idea is to hold a collective discussion covering issues such as the scope of the programme, its relevance, niches to be occupied, the role of the Academies and how can IAP articulate with other existing international programmes and organizations to bridge science and water management, helping enhance managerial capacity. The meeting will be adjourned on the afternoon of May 31, after a working session where the programme’s Plan of Action for 2007-2008 will be discussed. Due to room availability at the Adriatico Guesthouse, participants are asked to depart on June 1, at the most.