Who owns the water?

Is water a commodity that should be supplied in line with the market or is the access to water a human right that is freely available? This is one of the key questions that mankind has to resolve rapidly since conflicts on distribution and use of water for consumption and production of food or energy are inevitable.

Private or public good?

The three-day autumn conference of the Academia Engelberg Foundation taking place in Engelberg from Wednesday, 10 to Friday, 12 October 2007 is devoted to the following question „Water – Public or Private Good?“. Leading experts will present technical, geographical, economic, political and socio-economic aspects of water management. The exchange will take place in plenary sessions and workshops with personalities from industry, science, politics and society. Experts such as Bernard Barraqué (CNRS Paris), Jack Moss (AquaFed Paris), Manuel Ramón Llamas (UC Madrid), Mark W. Rosegrant (CGIAR Washington), Christian P. Frutiger (Nestlé Vevey), Wolfgang Kinzelbach and Thomas Bernauer (both from ETH Zürich) will guarantee interesting talks and results.

Young scientists involved

Participants in the summer camp organised by the Swiss Federal Institute of Tech-nology Zurich (ETHZ) and Youth Encounter on Sustainability (YES) as well as mem-bers of the studies foundation will present for discussion challenges and approaches to solution from their regions and fields at the conference in Engelberg.

Bridge building between science and society

Fundamental scientific findings are likely to meet strong reservations and mistrust of the general public. The Academia Engelberg (www.academia-engelberg.ch) contributes its share in the creation of a new foundation of trust through dialogue between science and general public. Every autumn, personalities from science, industry, politics and society come together with media representatives in Engelberg, Switzerland.

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It is of concern of the Academia Engelberg to also discuss those issues with media representatives. Reserve your participation ticket at Academia Engelberg, Beatrice Suter, KommunikationsWerkstatt, phone +41-41-660 96 19, Fax +41-41-660 96 28, email: media@academia-engelberg.ch, www.academia-engelberg.ch -> Activities -> Conference 2007 or Media.