Future of world's water: rhetoric and reality?
Distinguished
Visiting
Professor,
Lee
Kuan
Yew
School
of
Public
Policy,
Singapore
Founder,
Third
World
Centre
for
Water
Management
Stockholm
Water
Prize
Laureate,
2006
May
2,
2013
3:30
p.m.
Mathematics
3,
room
1006
University
of
Waterloo
Prof. Biswas' lecture, the “Future of the World's Water: Rhetoric and Reality”, will challenge the widespread belief that there is an impending global water crisis. He will argue that the world has enough water to support human populations, associated food and energy requirements, and environmental needs, if we manage it properly. Dr. Biswas will identify poor water management practices, including those in Canada, as a significant obstacle and will discuss how existing management approaches need to be re-evaluated. Dr. Biswas will describe how remarkable advances are being made in unexpected places, and how Canada can play a more significant role in improving the world's water future.
The Water Institute at the University of Waterloo is honoured to present Professor Asit K. Biswas as its 2013 Distinguished Lecturer. Dr. Biswas, recipient of the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize in 2006, is one of the world's leading authorities on water management. He is the founder and the President of the Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy in Singapore and Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, India. Formerly a Professor in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Sweden, he was member of the World Commission on Water, a founder of the International Water Resources Association and World Council. He has been a senior advisor to 20 governments, six Heads of the United Agencies, Secretary General of OECD, NATO, and many other major international organisations.
Event Parking
If you are driving to the event, we recommend parking in lot N or lot W where the $5 payment can be made with coins or credit card at the blue pay-and-display ticket machines. A map of visitor parking lots can be found online.
Biography
Prof. Asit K. Biswas is universally acknowledged to be one of the world’s leading authorities on water management. He is the Founder and the President of the Third World Centre for Water Management in Mexico, and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School for Public Policy in Singapore and Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, India. Formerly a Professor in UK, Canada and Sweden, he was a member of the World Commission on Water, and a founder of the International Water Resources Association and World Water Council. He has been a senior advisor to 20 governments, six Heads of the United Agencies, Secretary General of OECD, NATO, and many other major international organisations. He is a Past President of the International Water Resources Association, and the International Society for Ecological Modelling. He is the Founder and Co-Chair of the Club of Tokyo.
Among his numerous prizes are the two highest awards of the International Water Resources Association (Crystal Drop and Millennium Awards), Walter Huber Award of the American Society of Civil Engineering and Honorary Degree of Doctor of Technology from University of Lund, Sweden, and Honorary Degrees of Doctor of Science from University of Strathclyde, Helsinki University of Technology, and Indian Institute of Technology. Prof. Biswas received the Stockholm Water Prize for “his outstanding and multi-faceted contributions to global water resource issues”, as well as the Person of the Year Award from Prime Minister Harper of Canada, and the prestigious Aragon Environment Prize of Spain. In 2012, he received the award for “Excellence and outstanding contributions to water management” from the New Global Indian Foundation and was named a “Water Hero of the World” by the Impeller Magazine, and was selected as one of the 10 “Water Trailblazers of the World” by Reuters.
Prof. Biswas is a member of the Global Agenda Council on Water Security of the World Economic Forum, member of the International Advisory Board of Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok; University of Alberta, Edmonton; Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; and Pictet Investments, Geneva.
Prof. Biswas is the founder of the International Journal of Water Resources Development and has been its Editor-in-Chief for the past 28 years. He has been the author or editor of 81 books (6 more are now under publication) and published over 680 scientific and technical papers. His work has now been translated into 37 languages. He is a regular contributor to many national and international newspapers on resource and development related issues and also is a television commentator in three continents.