GEF IW:LEARN e-bulletin #13, Nov/Dec 2008

The GEF IW:LEARN e-bulletin is a regular circular of information including upcoming meetings, project specific news, interesting tools and applications of relevance to the GEF International Waters community (and projects in particular).

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In This Issue

Lead Stories	Visitor statistics from previous E-Bulletin #12 (October 2008). View full-size image
Project News
Most popular documents on IW:LEARN (November)
Calendar of Events from Jan to March 2009
Vacancies and Requests for Proposals

Lead Stories

	IW:LEARN ICT Workshop - Turkey, March 2009 IW:LEARN is organising its next ICT training workshop to be held in Turkey, tentatively scheduled for March 2009. The purpose of this workshop is to assist projects in creating and managing a project website using the freely available IW:LEARN Toolkit. In addition, related ICT subjects such as GIS and content syndication will be discussed. To learn more about the workshop, kindly e-mail Mr. Sean Khan at sean.khan@unep.org or Dr. Richard Cooper at richard@iwlearn.org.
	Study Highlights Increasing Ocean Acidification Increasing global concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are predicted to decrease ocean pH, with potentially severe impacts on marine food webs, but empirical data documenting ocean pH over time are limited.
	Socioeconomic Study On Coral Reefs Points To Challenges Of Coastal Resource Management Study reports on the social and economic ramifications of healthy coral reefs in 27 tropical nations and points to the inability of coastal managers to effectively implement decades-old recommendations as a significant barrier to coral reef protection.
	Climate Change Impacts on Hydrology and Water Resources of the Upper Blue Nile River Basin, Ethiopia This report aims to evaluate the impacts of climate change on both hydrologic regimes and water resources of the Upper Blue Nile River Basin in Ethiopia where observed hydrologic data are limited.
	Free Downloadable GIS Viewer from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University GeoMapApp© is a freely downloadable application, which permits users to browse bathymetry data from the world’s oceans, generate and download custom grids and maps, and explore a variety of other data types.
	Serious security flaw reported in Internet Explorer browser IW:LEARN would like to alert all users of the Internet Explorer (IE7) browser to install the latest security update from Microsoft or switch to another browser (see BBC news ). The security patch for IE7 should be installed automatically if  this feature is enabled in your browser or you can download from the Microsoft website ; the vulnerabilty of IE6 remains unclear. Alternatively, and preferably, use another browser such as Firefox which can be downloaded here - http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ . It is good practice to ensure that any browser is enabled to receive automatic updates (in Firefox go to Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab; in IE7 go to Tools > Internet Options > Advanced).

Project News

Mekong River Commission to cooperate with START on climate change
The Mekong River Commission today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START).  The MOU was signed in Vientiane, Lao PDR by Mr. Jeremy Bird, Chief Executive Officer of the Mekong River Commission Secretariat and Dr. Anond Snidvongs, Director of the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for START.

Gulf of Thailand participating countries agree on a three-year work programme for joint oil spill preparedness and response
The respective national authorities of Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam have recently adopted a three-year work programme to strengthen oil spill preparedness and response in the Gulf of Thailand (GOT) on 3 October 2008 in Vung Tau City, Vietnam.

UNESCO publishes first world map of underground transboundary aquifers
UNESCO is publishing the first-ever world map of shared aquifers. Almost 96% of the planet’s freshwater resources are to be found in underground aquifers, most of which straddle national boundaries.

Raise groundwater profile - SADC official
GABORONE - SADC countries have been called upon to raise the profile of groundwater, as 60 per cent of the region's population especially those living in rural areas depend on it.

Most Popular Documents on IW:LEARN.NET (November)

The top five documents in November:

Capabilities and Limitations of Decision Support Systems in Facilitating Access to Information [40 unique pageviews]

Sample Medium-Sized Project Concept Paper - "Makys" [24 unique pageviews]

Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe - TDA. 2005 [23 unique pageviews]

Aral Sea: Experience and Lessons Learned brief (Lake Basin Management Initiative). 2005 [16 unique pageviews]

Project Proposal: Development and Implementation of Investment Opportunities in the East Asian Seas Region [12 unique pageviews]

Calendar of Events from January to March 2009

Events in January 2009 :
Africa / Asia / Americas / Europe / Oceania / All regions

Events in February:

HWEA Conference 2009 Blaisdell Convention Center Honolulu, Hawaii  3-5 Feb 2009

First Global Summit on Sustainable Development and Biodiversity  Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India  7-9 Feb 2009

Aquaterra 2009 Amsterdam, Netherlands  10-12 Feb 2009

6th Australian Conference on Life Cycle Assessment Melbourne, Australia  16-19 Feb 2009

3rd Annual Climate Change Summit London, England, United Kingdom  17-18 Feb 2009

The Environment Partnership Summit 2009 Kolata, India  19-21 Feb 2009

4th Annual Water Symposium Sydney, Australia  20 Feb 2009

International Conference on Implementing Environmental Water Allocations Port Elizabeth, South Africa  23-26 Feb 2009

Events in March:
Africa / Asia / Americas / Europe / Oceania / All regions

Vacancies and Requests for Proposals

Water Policy Adviser (WWF-UK) Closing date: 2 January 2009
The Water Policy Adviser will be part of an innovative team that seeks to reframe the debate on management of water, to encourage sustainable water footprints and to safeguard iconic freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity. Specifically, the candidate will encourage large UK and EU-based businesses to address the most harmful impacts of their water footprints and to support public policy that promotes better water management across the world.

Project Coordinator (GEF GCLME Project) Closing date: Unspecified as post is to be filled-up as soon as possible
The incumbent shall be responsible for the overall coordination, management and supervision of all aspects of the GEF Guinea Current LME Project (GCLME). He/she shall liaise directly with the National Project Coordinators and the representatives of the GEF partners and other donors, in order to develop the annual and quarterly work plans and budgets for the project. He/she shall be responsible for all substantive, managerial and financial monitoring and reporting of the Project.

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