| |
Key issues addressed by the Steering Committee
· Summarizing the guiding principles and experiences as an outcome from the large river basins case studies.
· The elaboration of a glossary of erosion and sediment transport terminologies.
· Identifying stakeholders interested in erosion and sediment processes.
· Maximizing the extraction of information from the available data.
· The exchange of sediment data and information making use of UNESCO’s network and setting up the global database in IRTCES, China.
· Evaluating the environmental, economic and social value of sediment.
· Initiating training courses in local languages, supported by international experts.
· Providing an input about ISI matters into the next World Water Development Report.
Main Activities & Projects
(1) Global Evaluation of Sediment Transport
(GEST Project)
GEST assesses the sediment budgets in river
basins and estimates the total sediment load
entering the ocean to create a global repository
for data, information and documentation on soil
erosion and sediment transport.
(2) Initiation of case studies for river basins
as demonstration projects
Case studies will offer examples of monitoring
and data processing techniques, procedures and
methodologies for analysis of environmental,
economic and social impacts, and evaluation of
management practices.
(3) Setting up a global erosion
and sediment information system
The information system would be comprised of
at least three main components:
· Database to be generated from GEST and case
studies.
· Global Sediment Portal with links to other data
sources such as ICOLD, GEMS/Water, USGS,
EOLSS, ICID, SedNet, publications, etc.
· Documentation on information development,
showing how to extract information out of scarce,
scattered and unreliable data, and instructions on
how to set up sediment databases for river
basins in different parts of the world.
(4) Review of sediment related research
Information on ongoing research is an important
contribution to the operation of the databases and
information systems; however the inadequacy of
knowledge about various aspects of erosion and
sediment phenomena hinders progress in
addressing key sedimentation problems.
(5) Education and capacity building
for sustainable sediment management
Identifying multiple modes of education to satisfy
regional requirements and interests in different
socio-economic and eco-hydrological settings is
a medium term priority.
(6) Networking
Open to collaboration with all interested
institutions, international, regional or national
associations, ISI aims to establish close working
contacts with international, regional, and national
projects, programmes, and networks, such as
SedNet, GEOSS, NGOs, etc.
|
|
|
|
