Knowledge Brokerage for River Basin Management

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Economics of Sustainable Water Management in accordance to the Water Framework Directive (WFD), the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment (MEA) and Sustainable Development Goals of the UN Agenda 2030

Maroussi, Greece

The course will introduce the basic principles of resource economics related to water with focus on the WFD and the MEA. Topics covered include: Economic instruments for sustainable water management, market and non-market valuation techniques, uncertainty and risk implications for water management, political economy of freshwater and participatory approaches to water management. The course will be under the auspices of the UN SDSN Greece and will draw heavily on practical examples from the GLOBAQUA project and other water-related projects of ICRE8, the UN SDSN Greece co-hosting institution. Participants will be able to understand in depth the economics of water management and implications for sustainable development. The course will develop in morning and afternoon theory and application sessions, seminar and keynote lectures. The workshop is envisioned for postgraduate students, researchers at any stage in their professional career, as well as water professionals interested in the economics of freshwater management and sustainable development. Check the flyer.

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Modelling for freshwater related ecosystem services

Girona, Spain

The workshop is organized by the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) within the framework of GLOBAQUA. The workshop will introduce the basic principles of modeling of freshwater-related ecosystem services. During the workshop, participants will be able to co-develop their own case-study modeling exercise with the help of the lecturers. The mornings will be devoted to theory sessions to introduce the basics of ecosystem services, modeling, and modeling of socio-environmental systems; whereas the afternoons will be devoted to the implementation of the learned concepts into the individual case-studies. This stepwise approach will ensure that participants assimilate the basics of modeling of freshwater-related ecosystem services in coupled socio-environmental systems. The workshop is envisioned for researchers at any stage in their professional career, as well as water managers interested in the modeling of freshwater-related ecosystem services in coupled socio-environmental systems. Deadline for registration is June 15th 2017. Check the flyer.

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4th Summer School in Samothraki

Samothraki, Greece

The course is designed as a ten-day excursion to the island of Samothraki in Greece, organised by the Institute of Social Ecology (Vienna) in collaboration with the Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters of Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (Athens). The aim is to learn and apply social ecology and aquatic ecology approaches in a local setting while supporting current research and building synergy with a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve process. The course gives students the opportunity to engage in a real-life project and utilises their scientific training to support the process further, gather missing information in fieldwork and contribute to a science plan for further research that would also meet local interests. This will provide students with the experience of participating in a transdisciplinary research process, being exposed to a search for solutions for sustainability and development challenges, and learning to interact with stakeholders in a culturally challenging environment. The course will conclude with a reflection on the experiences and written student reports on the results of their specific research. After a general introduction, four modules will be performed in parallel, each consisting of an information block, participating field research, data analysis and reporting.

The use of stable isotopes in investigations of hydrological processes and climate change

Ljubljana, Slovenia

The course will be organized by Jožef Stefan Institute (JSI) within the framework of GLOBAQUA and will introduce the basic principles behind isotopic and chemical tracer modeling. Of all the methods used to model hydrological processes in small watersheds, tracers (isotopic and chemical) have provided the best new insights into the age, origin and pathway of water movement. They are among the few truly integrated measures of watershed function. In addition the training will offer a set of methods and techniques for analysis and monitoring of climate change impacts on riverine systems. Training in field methods, sample preparation, and use of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) will be included. The training course is design for researchers (master, doctoral and postdoctoral level) and other scientists interested in the use of stable isotopes and other tracers in hydrological studies.

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Quantifying geomorphic change in the environment

Lleida, Spain

The course will introduce the principles of geomorphic change detection, and help participants implement change detection analyses using an ArcGIS Add-In version of the GCD software. The GCD tool is an open-source, free piece of software, but the GCD Add-In requires ArcGIS 10. We will provide all participants with a complimentary, one year education license for ArcGIS and all the toolboxes.We will use a range of relevant examples from river systems in Spain, New Zealand, the USA and the UK describe how this tool can be used to support: Background on production of DEMs, quantification of DEM quality and derivation of appropriate spatial error models; Estimation geomorphic change while accounting for significance of uncertainties in DEMs; Derive statistical and graphical outputs for easy reporting; Use of spatial masks to segregate changes within different landscape units.

A glance at research

Adige, Italy

The course, promoted by the TUM educational fund, aims at providing master’s degree students of the TUM Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering an opportunity to understand and experience what it means to work in an international scientific research project, by planning and performing scientifically relevant field-scale hydrological experiments. After one winter semester with preparatory lectures provided of the Chair of Hydrology, the attending students will take part in a five-day field trip to the Adige catchment (Northern Italy) in the following summer semester (4th- 8th of April, 2016), where they will carry out an experiment with the aim of publishing a scientific paper. The Adige research catchment is one of the case studies selected by the European GLOBAQUA research project.

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Rapid screening of aquatic organic pollution and toxicity using bioassays and biosensors

Barcelona, Spain

The course is organized by IDAEA-CSIC. The focus of the course is the development and application of biological techniques of analysis for the rapid detection of organic contaminants or their effects. In this course, special attention will be devoted to immuno-analytical techniques, miniaturized and re­mote unmanned operating systems, as well as ecotoxicological approaches for effects evaluation of toxic mixtures. Practical sessions will be organized to show relevant aspects of mentioned approaches.

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Hydrological Modeling

Trento, Italy

The course is organized by the hydrology group of the University of Trento within the framework of GLOBAQUA. The focus of the course is on modelling hydrological processes across spatial scales. The main topics that will be covered are: catchment-scale hydrological modelling; continental (Pan-European) hydrological modelling; assessment of hydrological uncertainty. Practical sessions will be organized on the relevant topic of modelling uncertainty.