Welcome to the UNESCO Chair Human-Water Systems
Together with the University of Bonn, UNESCO has established the UNESCO Chair in Human-Water Systems in 2021. The chairholder is the geographer Prof. Dr. Mariele Evers who also chairs the German Scientific Advisory Board for the water research programs of UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization. She has been a professor of geography with a focus on ecohydrology and water resources management at the University of Bonn since 2013.
The research domains of the UNESCO Chair and her team comprise human-water systems, hydrological extremes (i.e. drought, floods), flood risk management, methods for inter- and transdisciplinary water research, socio-technical instruments in sustainable water management (such as ICT tools for participatory vulnerability assessment), collaborative modelling (e.g. through citizen science approaches), socio-ecological transformation, climate-water-food-nexus and handling of uncertainties in water management. The UNESCO Chair's regional focus is Europe, Southeast Asia, West- and East-Africa.
The activities of the chair include research, teaching, capacity development and generating decision-relevant knowledge for and with practitioners, which is being realized through a network of international collaborations.
An overview on research projects you can find here.
Embedded in transdisciplinary reserach at the University of Bonn
"Excellent research on sustainable development worldwide is a central profile area of the University of Bonn, not least thanks to our location in the German city of the United Nations," emphasizes Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Michael Hoch. The chair is therefore part of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) "Innovation and Technology for a Sustainable Future", of which Evers is also a member. The cross-faculty partnership brings together researchers from a variety of disciplines to explore institutional, science- and technology-based innovations in the field of sustainability.
"The new UNESCO Chair is another beacon in this regard, particularly with a view to strengthening the important issue of water resources, which, in the context of climate change, constitutes one of the key challenges of the new decade. I am extremely pleased that Mariele Evers, one of the most internationally renowned colleagues in this field, has been recruited as director," stresses Hoch.
Our Chair activities at a glance.
UNSECO chairs in more than 110 countries
In the global network of UNESCO Chairs, more than 750 UNESCO Chairs in more than 110 countries cooperate to anchor UNESCO's goals in science and education. Germany is home to 14 UNESCO Chairs. They are noted for their outstanding research and teaching in UNESCO's fields of work. The principles of their work include international networking, especially in the North-South and North-South-South areas, and the promotion of intercultural dialogue. UNESCO Chairs contribute worldwide to creating, disseminating and applying knowledge to promote sustainable development.
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