A conference on the theme of "Water resources: a global challenge, the challenge of the century?" during the "rendez-vous de l'éco" event at the University of Montpellier.

[Press release] - Published on October 29, 2024 in Press room

As part of its "rendez-vous de l'éco" series, the Faculty of Economics at the University of Montpellier, in partnership with its student associations, is organizing a conference on the theme of "Water resources: a global challenge, a challenge of the century?" on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, starting at 6:30 pm, at the Faculty of Economics' Richter Campus.

Why this conference?

Today, more than ever, water is a universal and multifaceted issue. And its importance will only increase in the years and decades to come, particularly under the impact of climate change, population growth and inevitable urbanization, potentially generating risks, disasters, economic and/or social difficulties, as well as tensions and conflicts across the planet. How, then, are we to integrate and manage the fact that existing responses and solutions to these multifaceted crises are to be implemented locally, and require us everywhere to reconsider certain elements and foundations of the way our human societies function?

Speakers:

• Éric SERVAT: Director of ICIREWARD Montpellier (International Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Water Systems Dynamics), Director of Research at IRD, Associate Professor at the University of Montpellier, and former Director of the Observatoire des sciences de l'univers (OSU) de Montpellier (2015 to 2024). Éric Servat trained as a hydrologist. He has taken a keen interest in the relationship between global change and water resources, first in Africa and then in the Mediterranean region. He has coordinated and directed numerous international programs, notably in partnership with UNESCO's Intergovernmental Hydrological Program and its emblematic "FRIEND-Water" program, which brings together more than 160 countries on every continent. He has just been appointed (July 2024) Chairman of the French National Committee of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme.