IGS - SENSE Conference RESILIENT SOCIETIES: GOVERNING RISK AND VULNERABILITY FOR WATER, ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

IGS - SENSE Conference

RESILIENT SOCIETIES: GOVERNING RISK AND VULNERABILITY FOR WATER, ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

19 - 21 October 2011

University of Twente

This conference is about searching for solutions. We must meet the challenge of sustainable management of natural resources and create resilient societies to tackle the interlinked needs of dealing with climate change, water shortages and meeting energy requirements. Our search for solutions has to be guided by good science and robust theory. Understanding how cities, industry and technology shape processes of urbanization, migration and innovation will help us to develop a systems approach based on interdisciplinary research and policy action that combines governance and socio-economics with natural science and spatial analysis.

The conference will bring together experts, academics and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines to discuss and debate governance solutions to make societies more resilient. The aim is to link theory and practice to create a knowledge bridge to exchange ideas and strategies which can contribute to resilient societies. The sessions will be organized in a range of formats, combining plenary sessions with key note speakers with workshops, debates, poster sessions and open space.

We invite papers on:

·         Climate Change

·         Energy

·         Water

·         Greening of Industry Network

·         African Natural Resources

·         Human Sensor Webs

More information: http://www.utwente.nl/resilientsocieties.

Campbell Fellowship for Women Scholar-Practitioners from Developing Nations

Campbell Fellowship for Women Scholar-Practitioners from Developing Nations

One six-month fellowship is available for a female social scientist from a developing nation, either a PhD candidate or post-doctoral scholar, whose work addresses women’s economic and social empowerment in that nation. Download the flier (PDF, 195 KB)

The goal of the program is twofold: to advance the scholarly careers of women social scientists from the developing world, and to support research that identifies causes of gender inequity in the developing world and that proposes practical solutions for promoting women’s economic and social empowerment.

In addition to a $4,500/month stipend and housing and office space on the SAR campus, the Campbell Fellow receives travel, shipping, and library resource funds; health insurance; and the support of a mentoring committee of established scholar-practitioners.

The following criteria guide SAR's selection of the Campbell Fellow:

• Citizenship: Applicants must be nationals of developing countries that are currently eligible to borrow from the World Bank.

• Academic Discipline: Applicants should be pursuing research in one of the social sciences: anthropology, economics, education, geography, history, law, linguistics, political science, psychology, social work, or sociology, or in an interdisciplinary field that incorporates two or more of these disciplines.

• Research Topic: Projects that identify causes of and/or solutions to gender inequity in the developing world, and thus contribute to women’s social and economic empowerment, will be favored. Sample topics include education and socialization of girls; globalization and the economic status of women; policies and practices toward family, reproduction, and women’s health; impacts of international and civil conflict on women; women’s roles in resolving such conflicts or sustaining civil society; media representations of women and the formation of ideologies of gender; the practice and process of gender-based development; and women in science and technology. SAR will select fellows on the strength of their clearly stated intention to serve their communities and countries of origin.

• English Fluency: To facilitate full engagement in the SAR intellectual community, applicants must demonstrate their fluency in English, such as through their record of professional interaction in written and spoken English.

Applications to the Resident Scholar Program are due on November 1st of each year. This fellowship is made possible through the generous support of the Vera R. Campbell Foundation.

Wossen Argaw Tegegn

• 2011–2012
• Project: “The Gender Agenda in Ethiopian Technology Universities”
• Affiliation at time of fellowship: Research Scholar, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna

Jamila Bargach

• 2010–2011
• Project: “Harvesting the Clouds: Fog Collection Technology and Gender Equality in a Berber Village, Morocco ”
• Affiliation at time of fellowship: Academic Director, Foundation SiHmad Derhem for the Development of the South & the Sahara

Sponsored by Vera R. Campbell Foundation.

More at http://sarweb.org/index.php?resident_scholar_campbell_fellowship

ICIMOD pilots first Forest Carbon Trust Fund in Nepal: Helps communities benefit from forest conservation and sustainable use

ICIMOD pilots first Forest Carbon Trust Fund in Nepal

Helps communities benefit from forest conservation and sustainable use

(Kathmandu, 15 June 2011)

Under the first-ever pilot Forest Carbon Trust Fund in Nepal, representatives from three watersheds in Dolakha, Gorkha, and Chitwan districts received a total sum of US$ 95,000  on behalf of community forest user groups at a ceremony organised at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on 15 June 2011.

The Forest Carbon Trust Fund being piloted in the three watersheds has been created and implemented within a project on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+). The project focuses on sequestering carbon through community-based forest management. Financed by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) under the Climate and Forest Initiative, the project covers over 10,000 hectares of community-managed forest and has an outreach to over 16,000 households with over 89,000 forest-dependent people. It is one of the world’s first carbon offset projects involving local communities in monitoring the carbon in their forests and providing the necessary training for them to do so. Now, the Forest Carbon Trust Fund gives the communities in the pilot area the opportunity to claim reward for their enhancement of carbon. Norad provided a seed grant of US$ 100,000 to initiate the fund.

This landmark performance-based initiative is being implemented by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and its partners, the Federation of Community Forestry Users, Nepal (FECOFUN) and the Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources (ANSAB).

As the three pilot sites are heterogeneous in terms of forest area, population density, ethnic composition, and livelihood conditions, the pilot fund addresses equity issues by combining performance criteria with social and economic criteria. Thus REDD payments are allocated to local communities based on four basic elements: 1) the quantity of forest carbon saved above the baseline, 2) the number of households of indigenous peoples and minority  groups, 3) the ratio of men and women, and 4) the number of poor households within the project area.

The 5,996 hectare Charnawati watershed in Dolakha sequestered a total of almost 4.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2011, an increase of 51,483 tonnes of carbon dioxide compared to 2010. Based on the above criteria, this watershed received an amount of US$45,535.

The 1,888 hectare Ludikhola watershed in Gorkha sequestered slightly less than 1.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2011, an increase of 36,680 tonnes over 2010. This watershed received an amount of US$ 27, 560.

The 2,382 hectare Kayarkhola Watershed in Chitwan sequestered slightly more than 2.5 million tonnes in 2011. This represented an increase of 12,087 tonnes over 2010. The lower increase in carbon sequestration in this watershed does not indicate lesser efforts by the communities to enhance the carbon stock – but rather, the high existing forest stock and the maturity of the forest, which means slower tree growth. The payment was adjusted to take this circumstance into account and the watershed received an amount of US$ 21,905.

On average, the increase in carbon sequestration between 2010 and 2011 was 8.6, 19.4 and 5.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide per hectare in the community forests of Dolakha, Gorkha, and Chitwan, respectively.

Carbon trading is a new concept globally and there is a need to build the capacity of local people who manage forest so that they can evaluate for themselves whether they can benefit from it. This pilot project is testing a governance system for REDD+, including payment mechanism and compliance process. It will also help demonstrate whether REDD payments to local forest user groups will provide sufficient incentive for them to conserve and manage their forest resources better. The lessons learned from this pilot can help policy makers and planners develop pro-poor and inclusive national-level policies for REDD+ payments in the future.

[end]
For more information contact:

Ms Nira Gurung, Communications Officer, ICIMOD

email: info@icimod.org, ngurung@icimod.org

Notes to Editor

About REDD+

It is now widely accepted that past regulatory policies and instruments have not been effective in reducing global deforestation rates. There is now a growing interest in economic incentive mechanisms to reward good management and conservation of forest resources. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an incentive mechanism of this kind evolving under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in an effort to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In recent UNFCCC discussions, REDD has been expanded to REDD+ with the inclusion of a wider range of forest-related activities than previously proposed, including community forestry, joint forest management, social forestry, and collaborative forestry – which should enable local communities to derive benefit from international efforts to mitigate climate change.

ICIMOD
www.icimod.org
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, ICIMOD, is a regional knowledge development and learning centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – and based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Globalisation and climate change have an increasing influence on the stability of fragile mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods of mountain people. ICIMOD aims to assist mountain people to understand these changes, adapt to them, and make the most of new opportunities, while addressing upstream-downstream issues. We support regional transboundary programmes through partnership with regional partner institutions, facilitate the exchange of experience, and serve as a regional knowledge hub. We strengthen networking among regional and global centres of excellence. Overall, we are working to develop an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem to improve the living standards of mountain populations and to sustain vital ecosystem services for the billions of people living downstream – now, and for the future.

Vacancy - Glacio-Hydrologist, ICIMOD

ICIMOD is a regional knowledge development and learning centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (HKH) – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The centre is working to develop an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem to improve the living standards of mountain populations -– now, and for the future.

The Integrated Water and Hazard Management (IWHM) programme has as its main goal developing and achieving recognition of ICIMOD as a competent reference centre for regional knowledge, information, and skills related to water and hazards. In this regard, ICIMOD, in collaboration with partners from Nepal and regional and international institutions and with support from Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nepal, is implementing a project entitled `Monitoring and Assessment of Changes in Glaciers, Snow, and Glacio-hydrology in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas – with special focus on strengthening the capacity of Nepalese organisations’ (the HKH Cryopshere Monitoring Project, CMP).  The project now seeks to recruit a

Glacio-Hydrologist

Under the overall guidance of the Programme Manager, IWHM, and the direct supervision of the Coordinator Cryosphere Monitoring Project, the Glacio-hydrologist will perform the following main tasks:

·      Contribute to the design and implementation of national and regional training courses, workshops, and seminars related to the project; contribute in establishing hydrological and meteorological observatories in the study sites, operate those observatories, and manage the observational data

·      Design and participate in field missions and research programmes as and when necessary, most often in collaboration with national partners for hydro-meteorological stations establishment, maintenance and operation; support application of hydrological models for the study sites using snow and glacier melt runoff models, downscale climate change scenarios, and apply the scenarios to assess water availability at the sub-basin scale

·      Provide insight on the effects of climate changes on the cryosphere, their implications for downstream water availability, and what such changes may mean to society in general and people’s livelihoods in particular; and assist on analysis of water availability scenarios on the sub-basin scale

Minimum Qualifications, experience and skills

·      Postgraduate academic degree, M.Sc. or Ph.D., in glacio-hydrology with a minimum of 5 years of varied experience in glacio-hydrology, snow and glacier melt modelling

·      Good knowledge on establishing, operating, and maintaining hydrological and meteorological instruments in a high-altitude environment and on managing and analysing hydro-meteorological data; knowledge of geographic information systems and remote sensing

·      Knowledge of Global Circulation Model (GCM) outputs applicable for the HKH region and of downscaling of climate scenarios; good insight on progresses, methodologies, tools, techniques, and findings related to climate change and glacio-hydrology in the region and globally

·      Ability to prepare project proposals, progress reports, etc. for submission to ICIMOD’s sponsors; skills in project planning, negotiation and assessment

·      Experience and ease in working with multidisciplinary teams, particularly with international or regional agencies, and in working with colleagues and collaborators of different national and cultural backgrounds.

Duty Station: The duty station is Kathmandu; frequent travelling in the region may be required.

Remuneration: Salaries and benefits are competitive at International level and commensurate with experience and qualifications

Duration: 3 years, of which the first 6 months are probation, and subject to future funding levels of ICIMOD

Gender and Equity Policy: Qualified and eligible women candidates and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are highly encouraged to apply. ICIMOD implements a gender-fair policy and is supportive of working women. It operates a Day-Care Centre at the campus and is committed to gender mainstreaming at the organizational and programmatic levels.

For more information on ICIMOD, please visit to our website www.icimod.org. For more information about the position, go to www.icimod.org/vacancies. Applicants are requested to apply before 8 July 2011 through ICIMOD’s Online Application System: www.icimod.org/vacancies. Only short- listed candidates will be notified.

Second International Conference on “Groundwater Resources Management: Adaptation Measures to Water Scarcity” Science and Policy Responses

NESCO-IHP (International Hydrological Programme) and the University of Irvine, California (UCI) jointly organize the

 Second International Conference on “Groundwater Resources Management: Adaptation Measures to Water Scarcity”

Science and Policy Responses

30 Nov - 3 Dec 2011, Irvine, California, USA

Dear all,

I am pleased to inform you that given the broad interest that this event has raised, we have decided to EXTEND THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACT UNTIL 1^st September 2011

This Second UNESCO-UCI 2011 Conference on ‘Groundwater Resources Management’ is jointly organized by the UNESCO-IHP (International Hydrological Programme) and the University of Irvine, California (UCI). It will evaluate the progress made in groundwater management since the First Conference in 2008 and explore the areas where further progress can and should be made as well as identify the needs for legal, institutional and policy instruments and their links to science. The Conference results will be presented at the 6th World Water Forum (March 2012, Marseille, France) and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, June 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

Important Dates:

·         Registration opens: 1 May 2011

·         EXTENDED Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 September 2011 (to gwater@uci.edu)

·         Notification Of Abstracts Acceptance: on a rolling basis until 15 September 2011

·         Submission of final papers or posters (only for accepted abstracts): 1 November 2011

For more information, please check the attached flyer. For regular updates please visit: www.groundwater-conference.uci.edu

I hope we will be able to count on your presence in Irvine and I remain at your disposal for any further information you may require.

Best regards,

Lucilla Minelli

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Lucilla Minelli

UNESCO - Division of Water Sciences

International Hydrological Programme (IHP)
1, rue Miollis - 75732 Paris Cedex 15, France
Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 68 40 29

Fax: +33 (0) 1 45 68 58 11

Email: l.minelli@unesco.org