Water – The Crisis Ahead: Workshop Executive Summary

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Introduction Excerpt

The workshop “Water – The Crisis Ahead” was sponsored and conducted by Foundation For the Future, April 21–23, 2010. It was held at the Foundation For the Future building in Bellevue, Washington USA, with experts on water from Europe, Asia, and the United States participating.

In keeping with the mission of the Foundation to increase and diffuse knowledge concerning the long-term future of humanity, the intent of the workshop was to examine the world’s water situation. Water is emerging as a bigger crisis for humanity than oil, but few in the general public are aware of the urgent need to address this issue. In this invitation only workshop, Foundation For the Future put sharp focus on the subject by constructing a process designed to optimize multidisciplinary perspectives.

An inaugural address was given by Professor T.N. Narasimhan, from the University of California at Berkeley. Eleven 20-minute presentations were planned for the first day’s agenda, under the headings:
▶ Understanding Water
▶ History of Water and Civilization
▶ Regional Assessments of Water
▶ Governance, Policy, Finance, Business, and Water Management
▶ NGOs, Technology, Solutions, and Ethics