WP8 - Dissemination
Workpackage-leader: UDE
Objectives
The WP 8 Dissemination also covers all external communication such as awareness creation, third party involvement and publication of results corresponding to four target groups:
- The general public
- The water management authorities, policy makers and other relevant EU project consortia in the HKH region
- Future water managers in the HKH region, i.e. university students of biological and technical sciences
- The international scientific community and interested parties (e.g. NGOs, related project consortia)
The general public will be able to read about ASSESS-HKH and follow its progress on the ASSESS-HKH web site, which will be set up in the first three months of the research activity. Awareness creation regarding vulnerabilities of aquatic ecosystems and communicating the importance of clean surface water (esp. in relation to drinking water) will be achieved through locally organised information events at community level. Where possible these will take place concurrently with field trips in the HKH region (for details, see description of Task 8.2).
Contacts to third parties such as water management authorities, policy makers and other relevant project consortia will be established to exchange ideas and know-how and gain support for the ASSESS-HKH objectives. Where feasible, water management authorities will be invited to participate to help prove the practicality of the performed work. The reports generated in WP 7 will be delivered to this target group; all efforts will be made to involve them during the research work, so as to have them also contribute to the results, which should help in getting recommendations implemented. Meetings and informative events (awareness creation and/or dissemination) will be organised between representatives of target groups and visiting scientists concurrent with on-site visits.
The future generation of water managers in the HKH-region will be in the focus of ASSESS-HKH. Students of biological and technical sciences of all participating Asian universities will contribute to the field- and lab-work and to the data evaluation. They will, thus, form a core group of future stakeholder, being well informed and educated in advanced fields of biological monitoring. Special information events at all participating universities will spread this knowledge to a wider community.
Publications resulting from ASSESS-HKH will serve to inform the international scientific community and other interested parties (e.g. other relevant research projects) on newest findings in relation to using biological methods to assess the ecological status of rivers. Results will be presented on national and international conferences. If resources allow, a workshop with scientific colleagues involved in this subject (from outside of the consortium) will be organised at an ASSESS-HKH closing event.
Intellectual property aspects will follow EC principles for RTD projects. The results of this research work are generally more scientific and in public interest then of commercial nature, however IPR will be on the agenda at every workshop and an evaluation of use of the results ("use"=exploitation and further research) and access rights will be summarised in the Final Report. Capacity building is an integral component. As an example of effective knowledge exchange between the EU and HKH scientists, a manual for continuing and extending river and stream assessment after the ASSESS-HKH research activity has terminated will be produced amongst other scientific publications within Task 8.4.
Description of work
Task 8.1 Set up, host and maintain an ASSESS-HKH web site for the duration of the research work. The homepage will have different levels of access: a public domain which will permit the interested community an unrestricted admittance to the using of the ASSESS-HKH aims, structure, participants, the deliverables, knowledge etc.; a remote ASSESS-HKH communication will generally take place over the internet-based platform accessed via a password on the web site. Develop a section of this website in a way, which provides a rapid overview about the newly developed monitoring approaches for water managers (for example see www.fliessgewaesserbewertung.de).
Task 8.2 Plan and host information events in the HKH host countries. Three types of information events will be carried out:
- Information events for the interested public and local decision makers (inviting administrators from village or panchayat level to district level, local clubs representatives local NGOs, and social activists; the total number not exceeding 50), mainly local communities near the sampling areas. The Asian scientists will inform local communities prior to fieldwork about the aims of the research work, the aspects of sustainable water use with emphasis on ecological understanding and drinking water quality, and simple biological monitoring. These events will occur prior to sampling in all participating Asian countries. The venue for these events will use local infrastructures as there are schools, town halls etc. To ensure a vital feed back one ASSESS-HKH representative will act as contact person to the according partners. A second information event will be conducted before the end of ASSESS-HKH.
- Information events at universities. Special sessions for the future generation of ecologists and water managers in the HKH region will be hold at the participating universities in Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. These will be organised, hosted and carried out by the Asian partners and will cover both, the monitoring methods developed within the ASSESS-HKH research work and practical consequences in the field of sustainable water use. These events will be hold around mid-term of ASSESS-HKH. The number of participants should not exceed 50.
- The Asian partners will keep a vital connection to local authorities and stakeholders. As one strategy of keeping the information flux the ASSESS-HKH aims and knowledge will be presented at according national meetings. Before the sampling period and within the last six months of ASSESS-HKH central information events for stakeholders in the HKH region (water authorities, policy makers, NGO’s and other interested parties from the general public) will be conducted. Most likely, this event will be hold in Nepal, but the final decision about the meeting’s venue will be made on the kick-off and the second ASSESS-HKH meeting. The dissemination material will be send to targeted audiences if they cannot attend these meetings. Thus the points of view of the stakeholders can be incorporated in the course of the research activities as much as possible. Besides the stakeholders and ASSESS-HKH partners, external scientist will be invited, including representatives of European companies dealing with waste water treatment. At the second event the practical use of the newly developed monitoring scheme will be demonstrated, and the consequences concerning sustainable water use will be discussed.
Task 8.3 Evaluate intellectual property issues during the life time of ASSESS-HKH with more emphasis in the second half. This will accumulate in an analysis of access rights for use purposes including a manual for continuing and extending the assessment after the ASSESS-HKH completion.
Task 8.4 Prepare scientific publication of results. Each partner will be expected to produce and publish an number of papers and/or to present the results of the research work at relevant national and international events.