The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water

March 10, 2010, 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
NJIT Campus Center Ballroom

Water ―life on our planet would be impossible without it, and clean water is vital for human health and well-being. Yet close to three billion people have no running water within a kilometer of their homes, and every eight seconds a child dies of water-borne disease. Even advanced industrial nations are facing a critical shortage of pure water. While this global crisis contains the seeds of severe conflict, there are potential solutions. In the Technology and Society Forum presentation on March 10, Maude Barlow will outline a three-part strategy for achieving a water-secure world. Barlow will present her analysis of the impending ecological and human water crisis and offer a solution based on the core principles of watershed restoration, water as a public trust and the human right to water.

Barlow is the national chair of the Council of Canadians and senior advisor on water to the president of the United Nations General Assembly. She also chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch and is a councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. Barlow is the recipient of eight honorary doctorates as well as many awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (oftencalled the “Alternative Nobel”), the Citation of Lifetime Achievement at the 2008 Canadian Environment Awards, and the 2009 Earth Day Canada Outstanding Environmental Achievement Award. The best-selling author or co-author of 16 books, Barlow’s recent publications include Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water.

Barlow is also the 2010 Lillian Gilbreth Colloquium speaker. In 1997, NJIT’s Murray Center for Women in Technology established an annual colloquium during Women’s History Month (March) in honor of industrial engineer Dr. Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878-1972), one of the pioneering systems thinkers of the 20th century. An expert in motion studies, Gilbreth refocused the attention of engineers on the human element in work. Her 1911 book The Psychology of Management is the foundation on which modern industrial management theory and practice is built. In the 1940s, Gilbreth became the first female professor to teach at Newark College of Engineering.

Download the flyer (PDF, 3 MB)

NJIT welcomed attendees from all area colleges, universities, and professions. This public forum qualified attendees for Professional Development Hours.

Sponsors:

Albert Dorman Honors College
NJIT Technology and Society Forum Committee
Murray Center for Women in Technology
Sigma Xi