eWater will officially launch Source, Australia’s new hydrological modelling platform. The launch of this platform is timely, particularly given the findings of a major report on water management recently released by the ATSE that says:
Water is key to Australia’s long-term productivity and quality of life, which will be underpinned by better understanding and managing it, based on technological innovation and scientific advances (more here)
Find out about the ground-breaking capabilities of Source for integrated water management and hear from experts on environmental flows, modelling river systems and urban water management at the Source 2012 conference.
Water and environmental management training is also offered on Thursday 31 May & Friday 1 June, Canberra. Following the Source 2012 conference, eWater presents hands-on professional training courses for water management on the Source modelling platform, stormwater modelling with music, Eco Evidence and the new Eco Tool suite.
Find out more and register
Jo Webb, eWater
The National Water Commission is running a full day National Groundwater Workshop during OzWater 2012. The workshop, to be held on 10 May, will explore Australia’s Groundwater Challenge:past, present and future.
It will provide a unique opportunity to learn about the latest science and knowledge in key groundwater areas and gain an understanding of Australia’s groundwater resources. The workshop will also highlight the future challenges for integrated groundwater management. There will be time during the workshop for Q&A and panel discussion.
If you have already registered to attend OzWater there is no additional fee for this workshop. However, if you would like to attend this important workshop you will need to register for OzWater. Registration can be completed at http://www.ozwater.org/registration
The National Water Commission looks forward to meeting you at the workshop.
Sue Aiesi
- Judy Christie, Siwan Lovett, Nicola Dixon, Jeanie Muspratt (LtoR)
The Sydney Metropolitan CMA’s 2012 Community Forum was a great success thanks to Siwan’s inspiring key note address “Connections that Count: People, Place and Passion” and her work in helping plan and facilitate the event. The event was attended by 90 environmental volunteers from across the whole Sydney region who enthusiastically participated in the day. Siwan worked closely with our Forum planning team for several months to develop an integrated Forum program.
Her presentation set the scene for two interactive sessions that engaged 90 members of the community in priority setting, followed by the groups being facilitated to develop aspirational stories of action. Prior to the Forum Siwan also ran a short session for CMA staff with tips on how to facilitate groups and what to expect from the process. Feedback from volunteer participants was enthusiastic:
“Well organised and enjoyable Forum. especially Siwan’s input.”
“I particularly enjoyed the different slant put forward by Dr Lovett.”
”We worked hard!!! But it was excellent”
“This year was as good as could be”.
Nicola Dixon, Judy Christie and Jeanie Muspratt
I am so pleased that this event was such a success. The SMCMA team gave a lot of thought to how the day could be run to meet the needs of the volunteers and engage them in the development of the new Sydney Metropolitan Region Catchment Action Plan. It was a pleasure to be involved, and if you are planning an event with your local community I am sure Judy, Nicola and Jeanie would be happy to share their experiences. Siwan
More than seventy Indigenous community representatives gathered at the First Peoples’ National Water Summit in Adelaide last month to develop advice to the Commission on how Indigenous water should be managed. The two day Summit was convened by the First Peoples’ Water Engagement Council (FPWEC), which was formed to provide advice to the National Water Commission on national Indigenous water issues.
Summit attendees discussed numerous Australia’s First Peoples water-related topics including:
- gaining respect and recognition for cultural values and aspirations
- potential allocation of water entitlements to support economic development and cultural needs
- opportunities to improve decision making and partnerships in water planning and management.
Attendees then worked together to develop a national position on how Australia’s First Peoples can gain access to water and how water can be better managed to provide for Indigenous needs.
FPWEC Chair Phil Duncan said:
‘The Council will now use the Summit outcomes to develop formal advice to the National Water Commission on Australia’s First Peoples’ water issues. ‘This will inform the Commission’s findings as it develops a position on how Australia’s First Peoples’ water should be managed in the future.
‘Last year, through our Biennial Assessment submission, we advised the Commission that more could be done to address Australia’s First Peoples’ expectations in the allocation and management of water resources.
‘The Commission recommended that Australian states and territories better use engagement processes to explicitly account for Australia’s First Peoples’ water values and requirements in water planning.
‘It also identified a requirement to build Australia’s First Peoples’ capacity to participate in water planning and management, including recognition of Indigenous knowledge of water systems and found that specific allocations of water for Australia’s First Peoples remains patchy.
To learn more about the work of the FPWEC and other indigenous water planning projects follow this link.
National Water Commission Communique
Scholarships for the 2012/13 round of the IWC Water Leadership Program are now open. Applications can be made on-line until 30 June 2012. The next program will begin in December 2012.
Designed for emerging water leaders at the project to middle management level, this program is customised for the water sector through sound research and collaboration with experienced industry practitioners.
The program helps emerging leaders to develop the abilities they need to exert influence, drive change and advance challenging integrated water managementprojects — abilities associated with the most effective integrated water management leaders.
Several full ($10,000), half ($5,000) and quarter ($2,500) merit-based scholarships are available in 2012. Scholarships are currently only available to Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia.
Agnese Middleton (IWC Communications)
Events, Resources | Siwan Lovett | 
8 May 2012 11:07 am | 
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