News in Japan - May

GEJET:
Nuclear regulator OKs plan to build underground ice wall at Fukushima plant

Netherlands:
Stormy weather in East Twente (Dutch)
New Dutch solution to floods

USA:
Tornadoes strike central, southern U.S., killing 9
What Happened When 549 Imaginary Storms Hit New York
Wildfires scorch San Diego County: 'Mother Nature was not on our side'

Other:
How costly are natural hazards? Experts link cost assessment with risk management
Afghan flood death toll rises as thousands need aid
Rains too much even for weather-toughened Gulf Coast
Prehistoric North Sea 'Atlantis' hit by 5m tsunami
Chance of El Niño increases during the remainder of the year, exceeding 65% during summer
Collapse of Antarctic ice sheet is underway and unstoppable but will take centuries
Water Knowledge App
Ten 'golden rules' of strategic flood management revealed by water scientists
Near-normal or below-normal 2014 Atlantic hurricane season predicted

Floods in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia 23 May 2014

Vulnerable People:
Mothers and children bear brunt of disasters
Why do so few young Japanese want to work overseas?
Closing Japan's gender gap could boost GDP 12.5%: report

Consultant urges 'one-of-a-kind' immigration policy for Japan

Curbing bad habits can stop 37 mil premature deaths: study

Japan should stabilize population at 100 mil by 2060: panel

Know your rights when faced with ‘stop and frisk’ situation

China International Water Law Symposium - Day 3

The final day of the 1st Annual International Water Law Symposium and Workshop consisted of a workshop and a PhD forum.

The workshop consisted of short introductions by Dutch (University Utrecht) and Chinese (Wuhan University) researchers to increase the cooperation in international water law research.

The PhD forum consisted of four presentations of PhD topics and external assessment by Professor Karen Bakker (UBC); Dr. Owen McIntyre (Cork); Dr. Sergei Vinogradov (Dundee); Pr. Rijswick (Utrecht). The presenting students and their topics were:

• Su Yu - “A New Approach to Implementing International Water Law – Communications theory, transboundary waters and China”
• Kenneth Kang - “Revisiting systemic approaches to managing transboundary waters – combining theoretical approaches to address contemporary issues” (thesis overview)
• Zoe Yang – “Connecting International Law and the Local User – What Legal Challenges?”
• Liping Dai – “The legal approach to integrated water resources management in China” (visiting PhD researcher at Xiamen CIWL from Utrecht) 

 

China International Water Law Symposium - Day 2

On day 2 of the 1st Annual International Water Law Symposium and Workshop, both Kelly Kibler and I had a presentation about our topics related to transboundary water management. The title of my topic was "Transboundary Water Law and Vulnerable People - Equitable and Reasonable Use". Kelly meanwhile focused on " Hydrologic data as a human right? Equitable access for disaster risk reduction in transboundary river basins".  Both are topics that ideally should be taken into account when preparing international river basin agreements. The presentations were followed by a visit to the University campus and tour around the beautiful lake.

China International Water Law Symposium - Day 1

Tuesday 20 May was the first day of the 1st Annual International Water Law Symposium and Workshop, at Xiamen University in China. Around 60 water professionals from different countries attended and presented their views on transboundary water law, governance and institutions, among which two ICHARM researchers. 

While the details of the individual presentations will soon be disseminated on the website, for now the program is featured here.