UNESCO and IECA Forge a Cooperative Agreement

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) Region One Board of Directors have announced a cooperative agreement with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The agreement has been approved with UNESCO Bureau of Sciences for Latin America and the Caribbean through its International Hydrological Program (UNESCO IHP-LAC).
“We are thrilled to work together with UNESCO IHP-LAC,” said Brock Peters, IECA Region One Board President.  He noted that the organizations would work towards “sustainable erosion control and sediment management in context of sustainable water resources development” in the Latin American and Caribbean Regions.
A release from IECA highlighted UNESCO and IECA’s shared interest in fostering scientific and technical cooperation “for enhancing capacities to better manage erosion control, sediment transport and sedimentation processes.”
An example of where IECA’s dialogue in these areas will be fully on display is at the 8th Iberoamerican Congress on Erosion and Sediment Control (VIII CICES) in Cartagena, Colombia, 15 – 17 August 2016. Geosynthetica is a media partner to that event.
The UNESCO IHP-LAC website includes “erosion and sediment control” among its 12-point action focus in its regions.
UNESCO / IECA COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT
The two-year cooperative agreement will include scientific exchange, joint policy briefs and information materials, joint development of activities, and programs to promote the improved understanding of sediment processes and methods for investigation and monitoring.
Training events and conferences are part of the agreement.
“It is envisioned that IECA’s Ibero-American Chapter members will play a significant role in implementing this agreement due to common language and culture in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said IECA Region One IECA Vice-President of International Development, Craig Benson.”
The first country being discussed between the groups is Cuba.
In IECA’s release, the association recognized Dr. Pablo Garcia Chevesich, who is both an IECA member and a UNESCO project lead. He helped connect the organizations and shape the path of their discussions.
Learn more at www.ieca.org.