News & Events: Events, Conferences and Workshops
How to Get Sanitation Out of its Pit: Alternative policy and practice directions for the International Year of Sanitation
A seminar hosted by Oxford Centre for Water Research (OCWR) and St Hilda's College, University of Oxford
Friday 22 February 2008
Background
At the 4th World Water Forum in March 2006 the U.N. Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation recommended that 2008 be designated as the International Year of Sanitation to highlight the global sanitation crisis and move it higher up the political agenda. The provision of sustainable sanitation is key to the health, well-being, development and economy of communities, yet a multitude of failures in the past have resulted in this crisis. The central message of the International Year of Sanitation is that the crisis can be solved given improved technical approaches, more consensual decision-making, greater investments, and increased political resolve.
Aim
The aim of the seminar is to hold an interdisciplinary forum exploring the failures of the past but focusing more optimistically on lessons learned to inform positive approaches to engage with future challenges. The event will bring together international experts and practitioners from the public, private and academic sectors involved in work and research on sanitation.
Speakers and Moderator
The event will be moderated by Professor Sandy Cairncross of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Speakers include:
- Paul Reiter, Executive Director, International Water Association (IWA);
- Sam Parker, CEO, Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (Halcrow);
- Beth Scott, Research Fellow, LSHTM;
- Jennifer McConville, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden;
- Jonathan Parkinson, W.S. Atkins; and
- David Rogers, Mott MacDonald.
Date and Time
The seminar will be hosted by St Hilda's College, Cowley Place, Oxford, in the Vernon Harcourt room from 9:30am to 5pm. Get directions.
More information
Attendance is by invitation only. If you wish to attend please contact Dr David Johnstone, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK.