Atmosphere from our group meeting

Here is a picture from one Friday afternoon, when our group had a brainstorming session. We will organize a 50 minutes workshop about our project. From left to right: Elina, Mirja (our mentor) and Solomon.

Timetable for the project

I added a draft of our timetable/scheduling. This might help to understand, what kind of a project we are dealing with. ;-)

Jordan River,Israel,Palestine

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to summarize and share what the UN report 2006 explained about the case in Israel.

Case1: Jordan,The palestinian territories and Israel

Israel possesses more power and exploitation potential(technical capacity and infrastructure) than the palestinian territories.Thus overcome the disadvantage of being a downstream country.
The information on the UN human development report for 2006 clearly shows how lack of internationally recognized laws or center allows a country to dominate water resources.
Palestinians experience high level of water scarcity;both physical availability and political governance of shared water contribute to scarcity.
-occupied palestinian territories get per capita 320m3 annually(below absolute scarcity treshold).
-Israeli population is not more than twice of the palestinians but 7.5 times higher water consumption.
-Palestinians do not have established rights to the surface water resources of the Jordan river,and use mostly groundwater from aquifers.
-On the joint water commitee Israeli representatives regulate quantity and depth of wells operated by palestinians.
-Unused water in palestinian territories flows to Israeli territory & is extracted by wells on z Israeli side.
Finally these limitations on access to water are holding back agricultural development of palestine.
We need a plan for TWC!!

Workshopping

Here are some photos of the results of the two workshops that we participated this week and the one before that. Hope to have a group photo soon, hehe!

Fundamental goals, means to achieve them, indicators to measure if the goals are achieved and alternative means to reach those goals.

Heini listening. 

Mindmap: some stakeholders.

Main issues and actions of the TWC.

Goals of the project

Hi everyone,here r only the goals.The means r available at optima.
Since Marko informed me that TKK is a member(not an active member),the final pt is improved as 'strengthening the link.'


Goals

Primary goal

To produce a plan for a transboundary water center
The primary goal of the project is that by June 2010, to have a draft for a globally effective transboundary water center based in Finland. The draft can be a reference or functional prototype for upcoming efforts to establish the center.

Essential goals

To setup a Mutual cooperation with stakeholder Finnish ministries (The ministry of agriculture and forestry, ministry of foreign affairs and ministry of the environment)
As a result of a joint effort to plan the transboundary water center, these ministries could receive a valuable information and important guidelines from the project for a transboundary water center (TWC) that can be based in Finland.

To appropriately understand environmental politics from TW perspective
While the project is on progress it is expected to give us inputs to understand and learn about the key issues considered while dealing with transboundary waters and international institutions that work in a global network. Along with that, international legislations (water) and legal settings that drive these institutions and actions in transboundary water areas or countries are to be analyzed.

To figure out the roles and responsibilities of the center
The actions for the center will be listed out. This answers the question where the TWC fits in the global water institutions network.

To plan the promotion of a transboundary water center
Since local participation is significant in establishing the TWC, creating awareness on the importance and role of the TWC will enhance the process.

To strengthen the link between Aalto university and the universities partnership for transboundary waters
As this international consortium claims to promote a global water governance culture for social and environmental sustainability, transboundary water education and research can be conducted with the universities’ cluster.