The European Water Association (EWA)
is an independent non-governmental and non-profit
making organisation dealing with the management and improvement of
the water environment. It was founded on 22 June 1981 as the
European Water Pollution Control Association. The scope of the
Association was enlarged in 1999 with the change of name to the
European Water Association.
It is one of the major professional associations in
Europe that covers the whole water sector, wastewater as well as
drinking water and water and wastewater treatment related
wastes. With member associations from nearly all
European Countries, the EWA includes most of the current
European Union Member States as well as Croatia, Norway and
Switzerland.
The aim of EWA is to provide a forum for the discussion of key
technical and policy issues affecting the growing European region.
This is done through regular publications, conferences, workshops,
meetings and special working groups of experts, all
organised on an international basis. More about EWA ...
8
th EWA Annual Brussels Conference -
"European Year of Water -
Upcoming Challenges"
The 8th Annual Brussels Conference of the European Water
Association was organised European Year of Water 2012
in cooperation with the European Commission DC Environment. It
gathered together experts to report on the upcoming challenges of
Europe's sustainable water management.
2012 was declared the European Year of Water and the European
Commission used the opportunity to assess the previous
and current achievements in sustainable water management
and estimate the needs for the future. These were the goals of
the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources,
released in November 2012. The Blueprint set out to ensure good
quality water in sufficient quantities for all legitimate
uses. The time horizon of the Blueprint is closely related to
the EU 2020 Strategy and, in particular, to the planned
Resource Efficiency Roadmap stipulated by the EU.
The Blueprint will be the water milestone on
that Roadmap. However, the analysis underpinning the Blueprint
will cover a longer timespan, up to 2050 and will drive
the direction of future policy.
The conference preceedings can be found at conference
William Dunbar Medal
The medal is on the honour of Dunbar who in september 1892 went
to Hamburg to help deal with a disastrous cholera epidemic. He
improved the detection procedure for cholera and other
pathogens. Dunbar also developed a methodology for monitoring
river and tap water, especially significant as this was a primary
means for the spread of cholera. His pioneering research in city
sanitation led the European Water Association to award a "Dunbar
Medal" for outstanding contributions to the waste water treatment
and water protection. The "Dunbar Medal" was first awarded in 1973,
and is awarded at every IFAT show in Munich.
The 2012 winner of the medal was Philippe Duchène, recognised
for his contribution to water and wastewater technology research,
especially in the field of domestic and agricultural wastewater
treatment. A practical engineer he has produced a number of papers,
books and manuals; he has peer reviewed for various journals and is
active within a number of international scientific committees and
organisations. Mr Duchène has also been one of the few people
to receive acknowledgement of his work from the French National
Academy of Science.
Philippe Duchène, 2012 William Dunbar
Winner
