IRTCES NEWS: UNESCO sponsored International Workshop on ‘Education for Managing Hydrological Extremes and Related Geo-Hazards’ held in the National University of Sciences and Technology of Pakistan (NUST) in Islamabad on January 24-26, 2011. The workshop was sponsored by UNESCO and Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, and organized by the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NUST.

Seventeen representatives from UNESCO water family and international organizations and universities in Pakistan were invited to make presentations in four sessions: training of higher level policy stakeholders in flood and drought, advanced tertiary level education and research, training middle level managers and technicians, and community education and capacity building. The speakers from the UNESCO water family includes:

Prof. Soontak Lee, Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Council of IHP

Dr.HAN Qunli, Director and Representative of UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office

Prof. Bart Schultz, UNESCO-IHE

Prof. E.R.N. Gunawardena, University of Peradeniya, SriLanka

Prof. Olusanjo Bamgboye, Executive Director of the National Water Resources Institute, Nigeria

Prof. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, Director of ICHARM

Dr. Homayoun Motiee, Director of RCUWM-Tehran

Prof. LIU Cheng, IRTCES-China

Based on a SWOT analysis as a result of the workshop the key issues and messages were primarily framed for Government of Pakistan and the international community, in particular for future strategic plans. This analysis provided useful directions and recommendations for the relevant organizations in the region, the private sector and NGOs and for practitioners including academics, researchers, trainers, teachers and mass media professionals.

Prof. Gretchen Kalonji, Assistant Director General for natural science of UNESCO, participated in the workshop and made a speech in the inaugural session. Pakistan Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi for Environment and Minister Pir Aftab Hussain Shah Jilani for Science and Technology attended the inaugural and closing sessions as chief guests and made speeches, respectively. UNESCO officials including Dr. Shahbaz Khan, Chief of Sustainable Water Resources Development and Management Section of UNESCO, and Dr.HAN Qunli, Director and Representative of UNESCO Tehran Cluster Office, participated in the workshop, made speech and presentation, chaired discussions and moderated SWOT analysis.

Prof. Liu Cheng, on behalf of IRTCES, participated in the workshop and made a presentation entailed ‘IRTCES and its Training Workshops’.