The Virtual Water Gallery: a collaborative science and art project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Arnal ◽  
Martyn Clark ◽  
Stacey Dumanski ◽  
John Pomeroy
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Public ◽  
Science And Art ◽  
Quality Degradation ◽  
Collaborative Space

<p>Water is life and so water-related challenges, such as droughts, floods and water quality degradation, affect everyone. Conceptualizing water-related environmental and social problems in novel ways, with engagement between the public and science researchers, may lead to new and more comprehensive solutions to complex problems. A society that makes decisions informed by science and science that approaches problems in a transdisciplinary manner are key elements in finding creative and holistic solutions to the water-related challenges we all face. We believe that art can help co-establish new social norms to help us grasp and tackle water-related challenges in a more holistic manner.</p><p>The Virtual Water Gallery* is a science and art pilot project funded by Global Water Futures (GWF). GWF is a University of Saskatchewan-led research program that is funded in part by the Canada First Research Excellence Fund. Its overarching goal is to deliver risk management solutions, informed by leading-edge water science, to manage water futures in Canada and other cold regions where global warming is changing landscapes, ecosystems and the water environment. Launched in Summer 2020, the Virtual Water Gallery aims to provide a safe, inclusive and collaborative space for fully open discussions between scientists, artists, and a wider public, to explore past, present and future water challenges.</p><p>As part of this pilot project, 13 artists were paired with teams of GWF scientists to co-explore specific water challenges in various Canadian ecoregions and river basins, including the Arctic, the mountains, boreal forests, prairies, farmlands, lakes, rivers, and communities. These collaborations are leading to the co-creation of science and art pieces which will be exhibited online on a Virtual Water Gallery. By making this online exhibition accessible to a global audience, we hope that the co-created art pieces will open creative and informative discussions about urgent water challenges to a wider audience via the gallery space.</p><p>*More information about the Virtual Water Gallery on the GWF webpage: https://gwf.usask.ca/outreach/virtual-water-gallery.php</p>

Socio economic influences on the restoration and maintenance of the water environment

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Peter Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Water Environment ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Water Services ◽  
Economic Issue ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Political Thinking ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Influences ◽  
Mind Set

Protection of the water environment has become a modern socio economic issue in which the sociological pressures for a healthy water environment must be balanced with affordability. Reconciliation of these aspects requires clear political thinking and rigorous methodologies. It also requires a shift in mind-set which considers members of the public as customers. Water utilities are the major users of the water environment and potentially its greatest threat – so good delivery of water services is very important. The presentation addresses the topic through the experience of Anglian Water, a privatised water utility serving Eastern England.

scholarly journals The Ukrainian pilot project “Stop radon”

2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatyana Pavlenko ◽  
Olga German ◽  
Miroslava Frizyuk ◽  
Nikolay Aksenov ◽  
Anatoliy Operchyuk
Keyword(s):  
Health Professionals ◽  
Indoor Radon ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Equilibrium Concentration ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Radon Risk

In 2010 one area of Ukraine (Kirovograd area) was selected for a pilot project to reduce radon risks. The project consists of several stages: radon risk training for the public health professionals, measurements of radon concentration in schools and nurseries (more than 1000 buildings were examined), justifications of radon countermeasures and their implementation. The lognormal frequency distribution for equivalent equilibrium concentration was authentically established. The geometric mean of the indoor radon equivalent equilibrium concentration was established to 63 Bq/m3, and standard deviation is equal to 82 Bq/m3. The indoor radon equivalent equilibrium concentration ranged from 22 Bq/m3 to 809 Bq/m3. It was found that the national regulatory limit for this type of buildings was exceeded in more than 50% of the cases. The second phase of the project has a goal to remediate radon levels and reduce radon risks. Calculated exposure doses and radon risk were used to justify the remediation and assess the economic loss for the region caused by radon irradiation of the population.

scholarly journals Challenges and Opportunities in the Operationalization of the Water-Environment-Energy-Food (WE2F) Nexus: Case Study of the Upper Niger Basin and Inner Niger Delta, West Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 183 ◽  
pp. 02001
Author(s):  
Ousmane Seidou ◽  
Fatoumata Maiga ◽  
Claudia Ringler ◽  
Spela Kalcic ◽  
Luca Ferrini
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Niger Delta ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Water Environment ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Integrated Water Resources Management ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

The ever-increasing demand for water, food, and energy is putting unsustainable pressure on natural resources worldwide, often leading to environmental degradation that, in turn, affect water, food, and energy security. The recognition of the complex interlinkages between multiple sectors has led to the creation of various holistic approaches to environmental decision making such as Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM), Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Virtual Water (VW), Water Footprint (WF) and lately the Food-EnergyEnvironment-Water nexus (WE2F). All these approaches aim to increase resource use efficiency and promote sustainability by increasing the cooperation between traditionally disjoint sectors, and mainly differ by the number and relative weights of the sectors included in their framework. They also suffer from the same face and the same barriers for implementation, some of which may never be fully overcome. The paper discusses the benefits of adopting a WE2F nexus approach in the Upper Niger Basin (UNB) and the Inner Niger Delta (IND), but also the multiple difficulties associated with its practical implementation. IWRM/WE2F initiatives in the UNB/IND such as the BAMGIRE project piloted by Wetlands International and funded by the Dutch Embassy in Mali to secure livelihoods and biodiversity in a changing environment, is taken as an example of partial success in the use of a nexus approach to watershed management. It was shown there are multiple barriers to the operational implementation of the WE2F. However, while a full understanding of all interlinkage between sectors may never be possible, data collection, scientific research and model development can improve our ability to understand the complex system in which we live, and hence take better decisions

scholarly journals The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA)

Ocean Science ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burkard Baschek ◽  
Friedhelm Schroeder ◽  
Holger Brix ◽  
Rolf Riethmüller ◽  
Thomas H. Badewien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
Data Products ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Arctic Coast ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the Arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the German Bight in the North Sea as a prime example of a heavily used coastal area, and Svalbard as an example of an Arctic coast that is under strong pressure due to global change.The COSYNA automated observing and modelling system is designed to monitor real-time conditions and provide short-term forecasts, data, and data products to help assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change. Observations are carried out by combining satellite and radar remote sensing with various in situ platforms. Novel sensors, instruments, and algorithms are developed to further improve the understanding of the interdisciplinary interactions between physics, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of coastal seas. New modelling and data assimilation techniques are used to integrate observations and models in a quasi-operational system providing descriptions and forecasts of key hydrographic variables. Data and data products are publicly available free of charge and in real time. They are used by multiple interest groups in science, agencies, politics, industry, and the public.

Exercise Musk-ox, 1946

Polar Record ◽  
1947 ◽  
Vol 5 (33-34) ◽  
pp. 14-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. T. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Canadian Arctic ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Northern Canada ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
Air Supply ◽  
Open Test ◽  
Military Development ◽  
The Military ◽  
Musk Ox

Exercise Musk-ox was no isolated adventure, but the culminating test of several years of wartime work. In it, vehicles, equipment, and techniques of training and of air-supply, secretly developed during the war, were given an open test to ascertain their usefulness in northern Canada. Because the public had not been aware of this secret work by the services, Exercise Musk-ox was hailed by them as a new idea, but it would not have been possible had not the equipment and methods all been ready and proven before tbe close of the war.So great had been these wartime improvements that none of those men best acquainted with the north country and with older methods of transportation believed that the ground party had any chance of driving 2600 miles without roads across the Arctic and sub-Arctic in less than 2½ months. Neither was it generally realised that the military purposes had already been served and that this was no tactical exercise but a demonstration of the soundness of military development and an experiment in applying it to peaceful pursuits in the Canadian Arctic.

The Arctic Pilot Project

1980 ◽  
Vol 32 (03) ◽  
pp. 351-354
Author(s):  
K.C. Milne
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Project ◽  
The Arctic
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