Seminar discusses the water footprint as a tool for analyzing the issue of water

From the recognition of the existence of virtual water flows through the distribution of consumer goods in different scales, water is now understood not only as a local natural resource but also as a global one. This new approach emphasizes the issue of water from new tools, such as the water footprint and its impact on how social actors position themselves and influence the management system of water resources.

To examine this approach, IEA’s Environment and Society Research Group will promote the seminar ‘Water Footprint: Innovation , Co-responsibility and the Challenges of its Application’ on October 16, at 10 am, in the Auditorium of USP’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC).

The seminar will discuss the following issues:

What would be the impact of this new approach with respect to environmental water needs?

How could the concept of virtual water and the water footprint method contribute to the development of standards that regulate the use of water resources or to the development of public policies?

How could these understandings impact land use practices, social relations and water use in different countries?

The panelists will be Jeroen Warner (University of Wageningen, Netherlands), Vanessa Empinotti (graduate in Environmental Science at USP), Paulo Sinisgalli (USP’s School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities) and Umberto Cinque (FIBRIA). The moderator will be Pedro Roberto Jacobi (coordinator of IEA’s research group and professor at USP’s Faculty of Education and USP’s Graduation Program in Environmental Sciences).

The event will be broadcast live from MAC's Auditorium at www.iea.usp.br/aovivo.