Freshwater Stewardship in Canada
Scott Vaughan explains how IISD is bridging the gap between freshwater science and policy, and how it plans to celebrate Canada's 150th Anniversary.
Countries around the world face pressures and stresses on their highly valuable freshwater resources.
In addition to many long-standing pollution and contamination pressures from sewage, waste water and eutrophication—among the biggest environmental challenges on the planet today—new pressures from the impacts of climate change are creating new stress points on water quality and quantity.
It is no secret that robust science must underpin freshwater policy. Yet bridging science and policy is neither automatic nor simple: science priorities change and new methods to capture data evolve quickly. At the same time, traditional knowledge must act as a central pathway to real stewardship, and policy priorities remain subject to debate.
On January 20, IISD, in collaboration with the University of Ottawa, will host a meeting of public policy specialists and freshwater scientists (including scientists from IISD-ELA) in order to explore these challenges.
Building on this event, as part of its celebration of Canada's 150th Anniversary IISD will mark Canada's remarkable contribution to freshwater science and conservation by hosting an international meeting of water science-policy experts, to take place in Winnipeg, Canada in late 2017.
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