Webinars

'Webinars', or Web-based Seminars, are presentations or lectures transmitted over the Web. With support from IFAD, TheWaterChannel started a series of Webinars on a variety of topics under three themes related to rural poverty alleviation. The Webinars will be organised together with our partners UNESCO-IHE and Cap-Net, and will feature some well-known experts on these topics. The Webinars will be collaborative; the participants will be able to communicate with the resource persons in real-time. Apart from lectures, there will be key resources, polls and question-answer sessions.

To follow our webinars you can register on our webinar website: webinar.thewaterchannel.tv. This site contains learning material from previous webinars and announcements about upcoming ones.

Webinar #3: Water and Food: Agricultural Flows and Water Markets

Date and time:	September 28, 2011 (Watch the recorded webinar.)
Speaker:	David Zetland
Registration:	(Past event)
Description:	Worldwide, our freshwater resources are depleting. Many even argue that we have reached the point of crisis. Some people claim the end of abundant water means the beginning of food shortage. But that’s not necessarily going to happen. Food shortages and water shortages are both caused by prices that are too low or policies that block trade from surplus to deficit areas. We need to retool institutions that govern water supply and use, that were designed in a context when water was abundant. This webinar will discuss physical and institutional dimensions affecting agricultural water flows, farmers’ irrigation and crop decisions, distortions caused by faulty policies and how water markets can be harnessed to manage scarcity.
About the speaker:	David Zetland is Senior Water Economist at Wageningen University, The Netherlands, working on the EPI-Water ("Evaluating Economic Policy Instruments for Sustainable Water Management in Europe") project. He runs the popular Aguanomics blog, and is the author of the recent publication ‘The End of Abundance: Economic Solutions to Water Scarcity.’

Webinar #2: Update on new low cost water technologies for drinking , domestic use and irrigation

Date and time:	September 14, 2011 (watch the recorded webinar)
Speaker:	Henk Holtslag
Registration:	Past event
Description:	Innovations over the last 10 years have drastically reduced the cost and increased the sustainability of many water and sanitation technologies. These can be harnessed by the private sector all over the world to develop affordable solutions for local water use/ sanitation needs. Through large scale capacity building on Smart Techs, developing countries could reach WASH (WAter, Sanitation and Hygiene) related MDGs (4 and 7), improve food security and increase incomes rural incomes. In this webinar, Henk Holstag will demonstrate some Smart Tech solutions with proven impact in various parts of the world. He will also discuss what goes into increasing their uptake by the water users and businesses.
About the speaker:	Henk Holtslag has 25 years of experience as development worker in 16 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. He is an acclaimed expert on the development, dissemination and promotion of SMART Techs such as rope pumps, manual well drilling, water filters and irrigation. In 2008, Henk received a royal decoration from the Dutch Minister of Development Affairs for his enormous efforts with regard to advocacy, promotion and development of low-cost WASH solutions.

Webinar #1: Innovations for Food Security: The Business of Sustainable Land and Water Management

Date and time:	May 18, 2011 (watch the recorded webinar)
Speaker:	Frank van Steenbergen
Registration:	Past event
Description:	More than two-thirds of the global food production is based on rain-fed and flood-based low intensity farming. According to the International Water. Management Institute's Comprehensive Assessment on Water Management in Agriculture, this production system holds the biggest promise to meet the growing demand for food. In some parts of the world, the last fifteen years have seen major turn-arounds- landscapes and watersheds have been transformed, seeing higher food production and greater environmental protection. These experiences serve as major inspirations to other areas.On May 18th, Frank van Steenbergen discussed a number of such innovations in the management of land and water buffers; particularly the development of a number of new techniques, the scope for new financing mechanisms and the lessons from large turn-around programs. This webinar has been facilitated by IFAD and the EU FP-7 WAHARA program.
About the speaker:	Frank van Steenbergen has worked over the past twenty years in Water Resource Management and Local Development. He has been involved in both in on the ground project implementation and the preparation of policy documents such as Framework for Action (Second World Water Forum), Dialogue on Water Governance (Third World Water Forum) and the Review of Mainstreaming Water and Environment (DGIS).