Hosted by the NEPAD Southern African Network of Water Centres of Excellence (SANWATCE), in conjunction with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, this e-Conference will take place during the United Nations’ World Water Day on 22 March 2013 as part of the UN International Year for Water Cooperation.
Following from the first e-Conference in November 2012, the upcoming e-Conference will focus on the need for joint action towards water knowledge management, and challenges and problems that are being faced. Specific aims are to
· Improve partnerships and visibility;
· Identify possible projects; and
· Explore thematic collaborations.
The November 2012 e-Conference identified the difficult relationship between policy-makers and knowledge producers, whether due to time constraints or different usage of knowledge, as a major stumbling block. All participants agreed that it is up to all stakeholders – researchers, policy-makers, and society – to contribute their knowledge in order to improve the well-being of the southern African water sector.
All discussions and presentations will take place on the online platform AquaKnow.net, a collaborative workspace and content management system. The upcoming e-Conference will be opened by Dr. Inga Jacobs, the Executive Manager: Business Development, Marketing and Communication at the Water Research Commission, who has extensive experience in the KM sector.
To join the discussions of the e-conference, sign up NOW at http://econference.nepadwatercoe.org/