UAEU to organise international water resources conference

Under the patronage of Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and David Spears, Minister of Environment and Water of South ‎Australia, the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) ‎is organising the "Water Resources Management ‎and Sustainability: Solutions in Dry Areas" ‎conference.

It will run from March 22 to 24 in cooperation with the Australia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

It is co-organised by the ‎UAEU National Water and Energy Centre in ‎collaboration with the South Australian Institute ‎for Water Research.‎ Professor Ahmed Ali Murad, Associate Provost for ‎Research and Conference Chairman, stressed that ‎it is in line with the university’s ‎vision to support development and priority of ‎UAE, and in accordance with country's agenda for ‎advanced sciences 2031 and its water ‎security strategy 2036.

He explained that there ‎are several factors including, among others, ‎population growth, urbanisation and climate ‎change that contribute to the scarcity of fresh ‎water resources in arid and semi-arid regions. The ‎water shortage problem constitutes a major ‎constraint to sustainable development, and poses ‎significant challenges to the use and management ‎of water resources.

"This conference aims to ‎discuss global water issues and address future ‎challenges in line with the theme of Expo 2020 ‎Dubai - Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. ‎This vision also adopts the theme of World ‎Water Day this year," he noted.

He added, the conference represents an important platform for exchanging ‎and presenting new visions and introducing ‎innovative techniques and unconventional ‎practices that would improve the future of water ‎management and sustainability in arid and semi-‎arid regions around the world.

It ‎will help to discover appropriate solutions for ‎the future challenges in the field of water resource ‎management and sustainability.‎ Dr. Mohsen Sharif, Director of the National ‎Water and Energy Centre, explained that the ‎conference programme expands for four days, ‎including 6 interactive workshops to be delivered ‎by international experts, on several topics such ‎as: applications of modern water technologies, ‎geographic information systems, remote sensing ‎and artificial intelligence, climate change impacts, ‎water sustainability and others.

In addition to ‎‎132 keynote and oral presentations, 32 poster ‎presentations will be made on water harvesting, ‎groundwater recharge, desalination technologies, ‎wastewater treatment and reuse, and climate ‎change. In collaboration with the Ministry of ‎Energy and Infrastructure, a field visit to the ‎Rafisah Dam in Khor Fakkan ‎will be organised.‎