At the UNESCO Professorship in Human Water Systems at the University of Bonn, Professor Evers and her team are studying the sustainable use of water as a resource from a transdisciplinary perspective. They are focusing particularly on the relationship between climate, water and nutrition issues as well as natural disasters such as drought and flooding in Southeast Asia and in Eastern and Southern Africa.
“We’ve undertaken a few activities in Germany and abroad since the professorship was set up a year ago,” Professor Evers explains. “The first thing I did in my role was to give an online lecture at the Water Academy in Myanmar, which I’ve been working with for many years now. This came shortly after the military coup there, and I wanted to demonstrate that we’re still cooperating on content, still training water experts, setting up workshops and symposiums and maintaining dialogue with our contacts on the ground. We’ve also further strengthened our partnerships at national and international level. Among other things, this has given rise to a module on open education resources for hydrology. Something like this is also a key priority for UNESCO in order to provide good educational opportunities across the world. In addition, we’ve stepped up our networking with international organizations in Bonn via the Bonn Water Network. To give you one very specific example, we’ve set up a partnership with a WATER UNESCO Chair at Sokoine University in Tanzania, where we’re conducting joint research.”
Evers continues: “Research into human water systems is complex, as some of the very latest examples and challenges show. This includes flood protection, which became highly relevant to us in Germany too last year.”
The professorship also forms part of the “Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Futures” Transdisciplinary Research Area.
UNESCO professorships are characterized by excellence in research and teaching conducted in the areas in which UNESCO works. Through their work, they strengthen partnerships with universities, other research institutions and social actors in countries of the Global South, in Germany and in Europe.
Learn more about the work of the UNESCO Professorship in Human Water Systems here.
