GEOSS Joint Asia-Africa Water Cycle Symposium
Ito International Research Center, Ito Hall, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus
25 – 27 November 2013
AgendaMonday 25 November
09:30 – 10:00 Registration
10:00 – 10:30 1. Opening
MC: Dr. Petra Koudelova
Welcome Speech
Douglas Cripe, Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
Keisuke Isogai, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Shizuo Yamamoto, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Akio Takemoto, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)Toshio Koike, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo)
Photo session
10:30 – 12:10 2. GEOSS Capability and Needs of Stakeholders
Chaired by Dr. Richard Lawford
Speeches:
His Excellency Mr. Farukh Amil, Ambassador of Pakistan
His Excellency Mr. Madan Kumar Bhattarai, Ambassador of Nepal
Key Notes:
Douglas Cripe, GEO: GEOSS Capability and Needs of Stakeholders
Toshio Koike, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo): GEOSS Water Cycle Integrator
Panel Discussion:
Masami Fuwa, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)
Masayuki Tamagawa, African Development Bank (AfDB)
Mikio Ishiwatari, World Bank (WB)
Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Yusuke Amano, Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Tourism (MLIT)
Douglas Cripe, Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
Toshio Koike, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo)
Panel Discussion Questions:
1) Considering the overall area of responsibility and trends what would you say are theinformation needs in your geographic area that will increase in the future?
2) What types of decisions does your organization make in relation to water and water
management? Where do you get your information to assist in making these decisions?
3) How could the existing information available in the local communities for decision making be
improved (quantity, accuracy, timeliness, access, etc)?
4) In assessing the priorities for supporting water activities how does your agency decide which
projects should receive funding?
12:10 – 13:10 Lunch
13:10 – 15:10 3. Water cycle Observations and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
Chaired by Dr. Douglas Cripe
Speeches:
His Excellency Mr. Francois OUBIDA, Ambassador of Burkina Faso
Dr. Sivaji Chadaram, Counsellor, Embassy of India
Key Notes:
Srikantha Herath, United Nation University (UNU)
Shigeo Ochi, Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Tourism (MLIT)
Panel Discussion
Srikantha Herath, United Nation University (UNU)

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Tadashige Kawasaki, Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO)
Akio Takemoto, Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN)
Andre Nonguierma, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
Ghulam Rasul, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)
Richard Lawford, Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO)
Chu Ishida, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Panel Discussion Questions:
1) What can the Earth observation community do to address the needs of stakeholders in terms ofproviding information about the water cycle for IWRM?
2) What opportunities should be provided in terms of (1) developing Capacity Building Programsfor practitioners, administrators and decision makers; and (2) harmonizing Earth observation
missions in the area of IWRM with funding activities of stakeholders? What role do you see for
GEO to play in facilitating these activities?
3) It goes without saying that in-situ networks for water cycle variables are critically important,both for the precise nature of the information they provide, and also as a means to validate
satellite retrievals and model outputs. Yet, no comparable coordination body such as theCommittee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) exists for in-situ networks. Moreover, it isoften said that in-situ networks worldwide are not only not keeping pace, but most systems areactually in decline. How do we provide an international coordination body that would act toreverse this trend and draw attention to the importance of sustaining and expanding in-situ
networks for water cycle variables? Are there specific items that AWCI and AfWCCI canaddress or implement to deal with this issue?
4) The concept of IWRM was refined subsequent to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in 2002, Johannesburg, and it was the Global Water Partnership's definition ofIWRM that has been widely accepted. It states:“IWRM is a process which promotes the co-ordinated development andmanagement of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the resultant
economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising thesustainability of vital ecosystems.”
In your opinion, is this definition still valid/relevant today? Why or why not? What can GEO doin terms of supplying Earth observations to support IWRM?
15:10 – 15:30 BREAK
15:30 – 17:30 4. Contributions by Earth Observation & Science Communities
Chaired by Prof. Toshio Koike
Christine Lee, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Martin Medina, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): NOAA Satellite
Activities to Monitor Water
Kazuo Umezawa, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): JAXA Contributions to Water
Cycle Observation
Bruno Meyer, South African National Space Agency (SANSA)
Richard Lawford, Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO)
Osamu Ochiai, Group on Earth Observations (GEO) : GEOSS Common Infrastructure
Kazutoshi Onogi, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): Introduction of the JRA-55 Reanalysis
Yasushi Izumikawa, Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA): Introduction of Himawari-8
Yoichi Iwami, International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM): ICHARM
Challenges for Contribution to Water Related Disaster Reduction andPrevention
Sam Benedict, Global Energy and Water Exchanges Project (GEWEX): Global Energy andWater Exchanges
Anette Johnson, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag):
Groundwater Quality; A health issue?
17:30

5. Poster Session and Cocktail Party
MC: Ms. Akiko Goda
Speech:His Excellency Mr. Mohamed ELLOUMI, Charge d'Affaires.a.i. Tunisia

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Tuesday 26 November
9:00 – 10:30

6. African Session
Chaired by Prof. S.B. Weerakoon
Speech:Mr. Sami Boughanmi, First Secretary, Embassy of Tunisia
Key Note:
Abou Amani, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)Introduction to Projects
1. Kenya (Charles Ndegwa, David Kuria, Felix Mutua)
2. Morocco (Kamal Labbassi)
3. Tunisia (Zoubeida Bargaoui, Moncef Rekaya)
4. Niger river basin (Abdou Ali, Bachir Tanimoun Alkali)
5. Volta river basin (Jacob Tumbulto, Charles Biney)
6. Lake Chad basin (Mohammed Bila Danasabe, Ahmed Sedick)10:30 – 10:50 BREAK
10:50 – 12:00 7. Asian Session
Chaired by Prof. Zoubeida Bargaoui
Key Note:
Deg-Hyo Bae, Sejong University
Introduction to Projects
1. Bangladesh (Elias Hossain)
2. Cambodia (So Im Monichoth)
3. India (Rakesh Kumar)
4. Indonesia (Muhammad Syahril Badri Kusuma)
5. Lao PDR (Bounteum Sysouphanthavong)
12:00 – 12:30 Poster Session – 2
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
13:30 – 16:00 7. Asian Session –continue Chaired by Dr. Johnson Oguntola
Key Notes:
Masaru Kitsuregawa, The University of Tokyo (U-Tokyo)
Seetharam Kallidaikurichi, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Introduction to Projects
6. Malaysia (Mohd Zaki Mat Amin)
7. Mongolia (Gombo Davaa)
8. Myanmar (Myo Tun Oo)
9. Nepal (Shiv Kumar Sharma)
10. Pakistan (Bashir Ahmad)
11. Philippines (Jorybell Masallo)
12. Sri Lanka (S.B. Weerakoon)
13. Thailand (Thada Sukhapunnaphan)
14. Uzbekistan (Irina Dergacheva)
15. Vietnam (Dang Ngoc Tinh)
16:00 – 16:20 BREAK
16:20– 18:00

8. Discussion for Implementation Planning
Moderated by Richard Lawford,

18:00

Adjourn3

Wednesday 27 November
9:30 – 11:30

9. Toward Implementation
Chaired by Dr. Richard Lawford
Summary Report:
Toshio Koike, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo)
Panel Discussion:
Masayuki Tamagawa, African Development Bank (AfDB)
Yoshiaki Kinoshita, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
Yusuke Amano, Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Tourism (MLIT)
Srikantha Herath, United Nation University (UNU)
Abou Amani, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Kenji Someya, Network of Asian River Basin Organizations (NARBO)
Douglas Cripe, Group on Earth Observations (GEO)
Richard Lawford, Integrated Global Water Cycle Observations (IGWCO)
Toshio Koike, The University of Tokyo (U-Tokyo)
Panel Discussion Themes:
A. The current status of AWCI and AfWCCI activities
Based on the presentations we heard over the last two days what is our present situation withrespect to current needs in different basins and nations, present programmes and capabilities,
and our ability to coordinate and deliver on these programmes?
B. The future plans for AWCI and AfWCCI acitivites. Emphasis should be given to the PDMs thatwill be circulated before the workshop.
What do we want to achieve in 10 years(?) 5 years(?) 2 years(?) through the efforts of GEO
activities in Asia and Africa? Special consideration should be given to the ways in which
AfWCCI and AWCI could contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.
C. This discussion will provide guidance on how we move from the current situation to futuremilestones. This topic will be the centerpiece for the discussions.
Given the needs of stakeholders, the capabilities of participating organizations and the funding
interests of ODAs what steps do we need to take now? Specific issues that should be
addressed include 1) the means of implementation (tools, data, funds and other resources,
capacity building; 2) how to organize among agencies and on-going activities to address ourneeds; 3) identifying the ways in which AfWCCI can take advantage of linkages with AWCI andGEO infrastructure and vice versa. These should include steps that will involve incrementalimprovements in the ability of responsible services to deliver a programme.
D. Given that this Symposium represents a unique opportunity to bring together Asian and African
experts, what ongoing coordination functions and activities can be developed to maximize thebenefits of this collaboration on an on-going long-term basis?

11:30 – 12:00 10. Summary and Closing
12:00

MC: Dr. Petra Koudelova

Adjourn4