HWE organized jointly with SOGREAH and Universal Group the Environmental Scoping Session of the Wastewater System Project
in Tubas, Aqqaba, Tayasir and Al-Aqaba which was held on 04 October 2011 in Tubas with the presence of the EU, PWA, Tubas
Governor, representatives of various ministries and institutions, environmental consultants and the targeted local community.
The objective of this scoping session is to discuss the construction of the proposed sewerage network and wastewater treatment
plant and its potential environmental impacts (positive or negative) and to open the floor for all the comments/concerns
addressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.
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House of Water and Environment (HWE) jointly with Consulting Engineering Center (CEC) invited Black & Veatch (B&V) and
Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) for a special Ramadan Iftar event on 22 August 2011 at Hala Resturant At Baloo'
Area, Ramallah.
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HWE celebrated on 26 July 2011 the opening ceremony of the ecological garden in the Arab Jahalin School through
the project “Improving Living Conditions in Arab Jahalin Community” funded by the German International Cooperation GIZ.
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Through GLOWA-Jordan River Project, House of Water and Environment presented by Eng. Mohammed Najjar (Project Coordinator at HWE)
participated in the Water Evaluation and Planning Workshop (WEAP) on 19-24 June 2011 at Arava Institute for Environmental Studies.
The main purpose of the workshop is to build capacity and proficiency in the use of the WEAP software.
For more details please visit the website of the project at the following link:
http://www.glowa-jordan-river.de/Main/HomePage
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HWE organized jointly with Black & Veatch the Environmental Scoping Session of Tarqumia Wastewater System Project
held on 17 May 2011 at Tarqumia Municipality in the presence of the USAID, PWA, Hebron Governor, representatives
of various ministries and institutions, environmental consultants and the targeted local community. The objective
of this scoping session is to discuss the construction of the proposed sewerage network and wastewater treatment
plant and its potential environmental impacts (positive or negative) and to open the floor for all the comments/concerns
addressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.
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HWE organized jointly with Black & Veatch the Environmental Scoping Session of Dura Wastewater System Project
held on 11 May 2011 at Dura Cultural Center in the presence of the USAID, PWA, Hebron Governor, representatives
of various ministries and institutions, environmental consultants and the targeted local community. The objective
of this scoping session is to discuss the construction of the proposed sewerage network and wastewater treatment
plant and its potential environmental impacts (positive or negative) and to open the floor for all the comments/concerns
addressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.
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HWE organized jointly with Black & Veatch the Environmental Scoping Session of Azzoun Wastewater System Project
held on 14 April 2011 at Azzoun Municipality in the presence of the USAID, PWA, Qalqilia Governor, representatives
of various ministries and institutions, environmental consultants and the targeted local community. The objective
of this scoping session is to discuss the construction of the proposed sewerage network and wastewater treatment
plant and its potential environmental impacts (positive or negative) and to open the floor for all the comments/concerns
addressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.
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HWE organized jointly with Black & Veatch the Environmental Scoping Session of Ya’bad Wastewater System Project
held on 7 April 2011 at Ya’bad Municipality in the presence of USAID, PWA, Jenin Governor, representatives of
various ministries and institutions, environmental consultants and the targeted local community. The objective
of this scoping session is to discuss the construction of the proposed sewerage network and wastewater treatment
plant and its potential environmental impacts (positive or negative) and to open the floor for all the comments/concerns
addressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.
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House of Water and Environment, (as a relevant stakeholder) presented by Eng. Mohammed Najjar, participated in the
Environmental Scoping Session of Jericho Wastewater system project held in March 2011 in Jericho.
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HWE organized jointly with Black & Veatch the Environmental Scoping Session of Al Yamoun Wastewater System Project
held on 24 March 2011 at Al Yamoun Municipality in the presence of USAID, PWA, Jenin Governor, representatives of
various ministries and institutions, environmental consultants and the targeted local community. The objective of
this scoping session is to discuss the construction of the proposed sewerage network and wastewater treatment plant
and its potential environmental impacts (positive or negative) and to open the floor for all the comments/concerns
addressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.
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HWE organized jointly with Black & Veatch the Environmental Scoping Session of Qabatia Wastewater System Project
held on 17 March 2011 at Qabatia Municipality in the presence of USAID, PWA, Jenin Governor, representatives of
various ministries and institutions, environmental consultants and the targeted local community. The objective of
this scoping session is to discuss the construction of the proposed sewerage network and wastewater treatment plant
and its potential environmental impacts (positive or negative) and to open the floor for all the comments/concerns
addressed by all stakeholders regarding this project.
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HWE presented by Mr Majdi Ziyadeh participated in the Scenario Development Workshop of GLOWA-JR Project held in
October 2010 in Germany. The aim of this workshop is to evaluate the future scenarios of the political and social
situation in the Jordan River region.
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HWE held a workshop on October 5, 2010 at the Palestinian Water Authority headquarters entitled “The Final Workshop
of the Pumping Water by Solar Energy project at Al Ettihad Villages- West Ramallah”. The participants in the workshop
were minister Dr. Shaddad Al ‘Attily, the Head of the Palestinian Water Authority, Dr Amjad Aliewi Director Genral
of HWE, HWE staff, Ms Nadia Al Khodary representative of GEF-UNDP small grants program, Al Ettihad Municipality
representative and beneficiary farmers.
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House of Water and Environment (a partner in this project)participated in the Status Conference 2010 - GLOWA-Jordan
River Project on 11-13 July 2010 in Petra, Jordan. Eng. Mohammed Najjar (project coordinator at HWE) presented HWE
work about the “New Water” resources in the Jordan Valley emphasizing on the wastewater reuse and water desalination.
For more details please visit the website of the project at the following link:
http://www.glowa-jordan-river.de/Main/HomePage
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HWE participated in a workshop to assess the draft of an environmental and natural reserves law in Palestine.
This workshop was arranged by Environmental Quality Authority and Ministry of Agricultural and was funded by
the United Nations Environmental Program- Regional Office for West Asia. The workshop was on April 5, 2010.
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HWE coordinated a field visit with minister Dr. Shaddad Al ‘Attily, the Head of the Palestinian Water Authority,
to the solar energy project in Betello Village. The aim of the visit is to show the minister the importance of the
project its results. The visit was conducted on February 24, 2010
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HWE held a workshop on February 1, 2010 in Beitello Village within the solar energy project. The title of the
workshop is “discussing and examine the project steps of pumping water by solar energy in Betello”. The participants
in the workshop were Dr Amjad Aliewi representing HWE staff, the project expert Dr. Emad Break, representative of the
small grants program from the UNDP, representative of Al Ettihad Municipality, residents and beneficiary farmers.
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HWE held a workshop on November 11, 2009 at Nablus Municipality for the project of Protection of Nablus Springs in order to
coordinate the work and plans for the project management mechanism and protection springs methods with the participation of
Nablus Municipality and GTZ representative.
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HWE conducted a training Course in October 2009 for the farmers in Al-Jeftilk
area, Jericho. The training was conducted over three days.
The purpose of the training was to improve the farmers’ skills on the soil management:
“how to prepare land for farming and how to use fertilizers”. The farmers were also trained on
Health Aspects of Field Application of Fertilizers.
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HWE held kick off meeting for the project of Improving the Living Conditions of Arab Al Jahalin Community
through Improving access to Water and Community Awareness Raising with the participation of German Development
Service DED, the Local Council of Arab Al Jahalin. The meeting was on August 8, 2009.
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On Tuesday June 9th, 2009, the House of Water and Environment hosted a Seminar commemorating
World Environment Day. World Environment Day was established by the UN General Assembly in
1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. Commemorated
yearly on the 5th of June, World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through
which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances
political attention and action. The theme for World Environment Day 2009 is 'Your Planet
Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree
on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen later in the year,
and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.
The seminar included speaker Dr. Imad Ibrik, who gave a presentation on the promising
initiatives for ‘The Use of Renewable Energy in Palestine’. Dr. Amjad Aliewi presented
historical data and current models on the issue of ‘Climate Change in Palestine’ and Mrs.
Nadia ElKhodary spoke about the ‘Role of the UNDP GEF/SGP in Averting Climate Change’.
A group of 15 scientists and experts from the Palestinian Water Authority, Environmental
Quality Authority, Ministry of Energy, The Palestinian Energy and Environment Research
Center, among others, participated in the seminar.
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HWE held a kick-off meeting and introductory workshop on Monday June 1st, 2009 for
the project ‘The Use of Solar Energy for Pumping Water in the villages of United
Municipality (Beitillu, Deir Ammar, Jammaleh) of Ramallah funded by the UNDP-GEF
program. This project will apply the use of solar photo-voltaic (PV) cells to generate
energy for pumping water to nearby agricultural lands in the study area. Participants
in the workshop included the HWE team, UNDP representative, United Municipality members,
farmers, and local residents.
The objectives of workshop were to:
1. Present the idea of the project and introduce the funding agency.
2. Discuss the phases of the project.
3. Discuss the use of renewable energy in Palestine and the potential use of solar energy
in pumping water.
4. Create a monitoring committee for the project.
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On Wednesday May 13, 2009, HWE held a workshop regarding the effects of domestic pollution
and the effects of industrial pollution created from Israeli settlement in particular,
on the health and water resources of Salfeet district. Representatives from the Palestinian
Water Authority, Environmental Quality Authority, Ministry of Health, Institute of Environmental
and Water Studies- Birzeit University, Salfeet Women’s Organization, Salfeet Municipality,
and others were present.
This workshop was a final output of a 2-year project funded by AGFUND and carried out by HWE
with IEWS- Birzeit University and Salfeet Municipality. The purpose of this workshop was to
present the findings of the project and to discuss the impacts of pollution in general, and
the pollutants emerging from Israeli settlements in particular, on the water resources and the
health of residents in Salfeet. Presentations were given on the pollution sources in Salfeet,
the importance of environmental protection, the use of GIS in mapping pollution sources, and
the awareness raising campaigns carried out within the activities of the project.
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House of Water and Environment participated in the 5th World Water Forum that was
held in Istanbul from 16-22 March 2009. Dr Aliewi the Director-General contributed
in a number of sessions about the Mediterranean Region and Transboundary basins.
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Dr Amjad Aliewi, the Director-General of HWE completed his visit to Newcastle University
where he was the lecturer of the course, "Groundwater Assessment". This course is attended by 50 MSc
students at Newcastle University.
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Ramallah- Within the activities of the TEMPUS project, which is funded by the European
Union to build the capacity in GIS application in the field of water and environment,
the House of Water and Environment has conducted two training courses in the GIS
Application in Urban planning .
The purpose of this training course was to train the Palestinian staff from different municipalities
and local institutes in the use GIS applications in urban planning. Two modules have been distributed
to the 18 trainees.
The two training courses provided 48 tainting hours to the 18 trainees.
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Eng. Lubna Siam at HWE is conducting several training seminars for women in Salfeet City,
Bruqin, Kafr ad-Dik, Deir Istiya and Dair Ballut. These training seminars aim to enhance
the individuals’ knowledge of women’s rights regarding water, state responsibility towards
water and environment, as well as to offer women many strategies that will increase their
awareness of drinking water source protection within their community. The main discussed
issues in this campaign are:
• Environmental problems and health related topics.
• Impact of pollution on water resources and the prevention measures.
• How to develop an attitude and practices towards protecting groundwater resources on
the local community level.
• Groundwater protection guidelines on the national and regional levels.
• Water related disease issues.
This activity is a main task of the “Assessment of the Pollution Sources on the Water Environment
“project which is funded by the Arab Gulf Programme for the United Nations Development
Organizations (AGFUND). The activity also includes distribution of many training materials,
brochures …etc.
 Brochure
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The third scientific meeting of SWITCH project was held at Belo Horizonte in Brazil from
30 Nov to 5 Dec, 2008. House of Water and Environment (a partner in this project)
participated and presented its work about a DSS of Jericho.
It should be noted that 33 organizations are involved in this project.
For more details, please visit the website of the project
http://www.unesco-ihe.org/switch
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Eng Jumana Abu Sada and Eng Lubna Siam attended a three day training course which introduces
WAS and MYWAS models. This course was conducted by Prof. Franklin Fisher from MIT University,
USA and Dr Anan Jayyousi from An Najah University, Palestine, the training course was held at
Rocky Hotel, Ramallah, December 2-4, 2008.
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The most recent activity within the Pro-Aquifer was the undertaking of the Second
Professional Conference on “Protecting the Mountain Aquifer”. This conference was a
public interdisciplinary academic conference, on the trans-boundary nature of water
and environmental problems and their solutions, with a focus on the role of local
municipalities.
The conference aimed to raise public awareness on the threats to groundwater resources
which can be addressed at the municipal level on both the Palestinian and Israeli sides.
Participation included municipality staff, scientists, environmentalists, students, and
the general public. Presentations were given on the outputs of the Pro-Aquifer project,
and a special presentation was given by guest Dr. Geoff Parkin from Newcastle University,
UK, on ‘Municipal Leadership’. The conference began with a tour of Umm el Fahem and closed
with a discussion on the Sustainability and Replicability of Pro-Aquifer.
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Environmental Assessment of Pollution Sources on the Water Environment and Palestinian
Livelihoods in the Northern West Bank- Salfeet District, is a project that addresses the
protection of groundwater resources from pollution. The project also aims at correlating
the impacts of pollution with the residents’ health in order to recommend guidelines for
pollution prevention.
In order to achieve these objectives effectively a GIS training course was conducted at HWE for
Salfeet governorate municipal staff. This was was held in the new HWE GIS computer lab, by Eng.
Jumana Abu Sada, from 10-13 November 2008.
The main objective of the Training Course was to familiarise the participants with the project
and its activities, by providing an introduction to the ArcGIS software. Participants were also
provided with basic knowledge and experience about data management systems and their utilization.
This training course provided 20 training hours for 10 engineers from Salfeet municipalities.
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The main objective of the Pro Aquifer project is the “Alleviation of groundwater
pollution sources from Israeli and Palestinian municipalities”. To achieve this
objective, different activities have been carried out including: research on pollution
sources and modelling of pollution, training on water management and waste water
science related topics, and other outreach activities. Within the activities of the
project, a professional conference was held to present the research and guidelines.
This conference aimed to expose the research and guidelines developed within the project to
appropriate officials and academics so to foster their implementation by Palestinian and
Israeli municipalities. It also encouraged raising public awareness on the threats to
groundwater resources which can be addressed at the municipal level on both sides. The
participation mainly included decision makers in Palestinian and Israeli municipalities
and academics.
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Dr Amjad Aliewi was the external examiner to a PhD thesis, “Water Resources in the West
Bank – Palestine: Characterization and Modelling of the Quaternary Aquifer in Jericho Area
in the Jordan Valley” by the student Ammar Daas at Gent University, Faculty of Science,
Department of Geology and Soil Science, Laboratory for Applied Geology and Hydrogeology.
The Defense was held on 4 November 2008 and the jury members were:
Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Henriet, Chairman
Prof. Dr. Kristine Walraevens, promoter & Secretary
Prof. Dr. Amjad Aliewi, external examiner
Prof. Dr. Okke Batelaan
Prof. Dr. ir. Hubert Verplancke
Prof. Dr. Morgan De Dapper
Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Cnudde
Dr. Marleen Coetsiers
At the end of the defense, Ammar Daas was awarded his PhD degree.
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Eng. Nael Ali Ahmad from HWE was invited to participate in the first regional InWEnt Alumni
Conference on the subject "Networking and Innovation" for Alumni from the MENA region from
October 29-November 1, 2008 in Alexandria/Egypt.
After his participation with other five experts from Palestine, there was an agreement to
establish a local network which will be connected with other networks in the region.
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The Pro-Aquifer project is a project which addresses the protection of shared groundwater
resources from pollution by municipalities. The project aims to directly improve the
capacity of municipal staff to alleviate pollution stresses on groundwater through the
training of professionals on relevant pollution prevention activities. This was one of
the first GIS training programs that was held in the new HWE GIS computer lab, by Eng.
Jumana Abu Sada, from 11-18 October 2008.
The purpose of this training course was to train Palestinian municipal staff in the use of the
ArcGIS tool and its applications in water. Municipal staff was trained in data collection,
creation of datasets, and water applications in GIS among other topics.
This training course provided 48 training hours to 10 engineers from different Palestinian
municipalities.
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HWE participated in the above conference and presented a talk about the impacts of climate
change on our water resources and the adaptation measures that should be undertaken to cope
with the climate change.
The conference was organized by Heinrich Boll Foundation (the Arab Middle East Office);
United Nations University and others.
To see the presentation, Click
Climate Change, Water Resources and Adaptation
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HWE participated in the above conference and presented two talks: the first about
the findings of the Pro-Aquifer Project, which is about the protection of shared groundwater
aquifers which is funded by EU-Life. The second was about the management aspects of
transboundary waters and the Palestinian water rights in the final status negotiations.
The outcome of the conference was “Thessaloniki Statement” that clearly considers the
importance of referring to the International Law when solving conflicts over Transboundary
Waters.
http://www.inweb.gr/twm4/
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Within the activities of the TEMPUS project, which is funded by the
European Union, Eng. Jumana Abu Sada and Eng. Jamal Numan attended a ‘Continuing
Professional Development (CPD)’ training course for GIS in Newcastle University.
The Tempus project aims to build capacity in GIS applications in the field of
water, environment and urban planning,
This CPD training course consisted of Intermediate GIS and Spatial Analysis
training using ArcGIS and was followed by discussions, development and preparation
of the material for the 5th training course for the Tempus project, which is
entitled “GIS applications in Urban Planning”. This course will be conducted
in November 2008.
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Ramallah- Within the activities of the TEMPUS project, which is funded by the European
Union and aims to build capacity in GIS application in the field of water and environment,
the House of Water and Environment has opened a GIS computer lab and has launched two
training programs on the GIS applications in water and environment. One of the training
courses is a beginner’s course -Introduction to GIS- while the second is an advanced course.
The TEMPUS project is a joint project between the House of Water and Environment, the Water and
Environmental Studies Institute of Birzeit University, the Earth and Environmental Sciences
faculty in Al-Quds University, Newcastle University, and the University of Lund. The purpose
of this project is to develop academic curriculum for university students at the Bachelor level
and the Masters level, as well as to train those employed in the field of water and environment
in Palestinian organizations. Dr. Amjad Aliewi, Director General of House of Water and
Environment, opened the training courses, and Eng. Jumana Abusadah, will be giving the training.
Eng. Jumana has much experience using GIS on a local and regional scale in the field of water
and environment.
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House of Water and Environment as a partner participated in projects management
meeting about the status of GLOWA phase 3 project and the SMART project
from 25-29 June, 2008 at Aqaba - Jordan. These projects are about conducting
research studies about the development and management of the Jordan River.
On June 21,
2008, a meeting was held in HWE regarding the Environment
Assessment of Pollution Sources on the water environment project. The main purpose
of this meeting was to discuss the progress of this project with some members from
the Salfeet municipality. Many tasks were undertaken with close coordination and
cooperation with those members, so in order to express our thanks to their efforts,
HWE donated a laptop to the Health and Environment department, as well as a GPS
device to the Surveying department.
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Mr. Ashraf Nader from HWE attended a one day network meeting to discuss the future
direction of the AWARENET network, and how the network can better serve its members.
This meeting was about the Palestinian national chapter in the AWARENET. The meeting
was held in the Dead Sea Marriot Resort, Jordan on 4 June 2008.
To learn more about AWARENET, visit,
http://www.awarenet.org/
Dr. Amjad Aliewi, the Director General of HWE attended a scientific
meeting in Amman-Jordan 9-10 April 2008 about publishing a book, “Water
Wisdom”. Dr. Aliewi has written the water resources chapter of the Book.
The Book is expected to be released by the end of the year.
HWE organized with Foeme tow field visits as follows:
(1)
The first joint study tour was held on March 12, 2008. It consisted of a tour to
the Shafdan wastewater treatment facility, the largest wastewater treatment plant
in
Israel. Shafdan is one of the most complex wastewater treatment
plants in
Israel
and the most advanced in the
Middle East.
Participants were given a tour of the facility and were
introduced to the different treatment processes which take place there. A visit
to the Maabarot Reconstructed Wetlands followed.
(2)
The second joint study tour was held on March 24, 2008. It consisted of a tour to
the ‘Yad Hana’ wastewater treatment facility. The participants found this tour especially
interesting because the Yad Hana treatment facility is actually a joint environmental
project between the Hefer Valley Regional Council and the Palestinian Authority
city of Tulkarm. This treatment plant collects and treats Tulkarm’s wastewater in
the water treatment center at Kibbutz Yad Hanna. The project prevents pollution
of the Alexander River (also known as Wadi Zeimar), which is a vital waterway for
both the Palestinians and Israelis.
Participants were then given a tour of the ‘Ramat Hasharon’
facility, whose operation
is helping in upgrading the water quality in the Yarkon,
Poleg and Alexander Rivers.
Under the technical cooperation project “Management,
Protection and Sustainable Use of Groundwater and soil
resources” between the Arab Centre for the Studies of
Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), SYRIA, and the Federal
Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR),
Eng. Najwan Imsieh and Eng. Lubna Siam participated in
a trianing workshop which was held on setting up and
applying a Decision Support System (DSS) for water management
(WEAP- MODFLOW). This workshop was held from 9-13 March, 2008
in the Kempinsky Hotel, Amman, JORDAN.
HWE conducted a training course about sewage treatment technologies from 16 January
to 6 February, 2008 at the Grand Park Hotel in Ramallah-Palestine for Municipality
Engineers.
More Details...
Dr. Aliewi was a visiting professor in January, 2008 at Newcastle University (UK)
and he taught Groundwater Assessment Module with the MSc programme in Applied
Hydrology.
Members of Staff from HWE attended Back to Back Workshops: Initial
Implementation of Joint Management in the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System,
and Nahr El Kabir Aquifer System from 14-18 Jan 2008 in Cairo, Egypt.
HWE conducted a training course about sewage treatment technologies from 21 November,
2007 to 16 January, 2008 at HWE, Ramallah-Palestine for Municipality Engineers.
More Details...
Members of Staff from HWE attended
the 4th Conference of the Water Directors of the EURO- Mediterranean and Southeastern
European Countries from 10-11 Dec, 2007 in Bled, Slovenia.
Members of Staff from HWE
attended Water Management during Crisis Course from 4-8 Dec, 2007 in Amman- Jordan.
Within the framework of the Centre
of Arab Women for Training and Research (CAWTAR), Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), the
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) - WaDImena Project,
the Cap-Net - AWARENET, and GEWAMED, Eng. Lubna Siam, a Water and Environment
Research Associate at HWE, attended Training of Trainers (TOT) course on Gender
Mainstreaming in IWRM in the Arab Region from 26 Nov – 2 Dec, 2007 in Tunis,
Tunisia.
Eng. Jumana Abu Sada ,
the GIS Specialist at HWE attended a workshop, entitled: “Shared aquifers database
for the MEDA region: content, use and maintenance.” which was held in Thessaloniki,
Greece, from 26th-27th November 2007 organised by ESCWA.
Members of Staff from HWE
attended the SWITCH Second Scientific and Integration Meeting from 25-28 Nov, 2007
in Tel Aviv.
Eng. Najwan Imseih, A Water and
Environment Research Associate at HWE, attended the ‘WEAP Training and Application
Workshop’, which primarily addressed trans-boundary management questions, including
alternatives to the Red Dead Canal. This workshop was held in Amman, Jordan, November
24-25, 2007. This workshop provided an introduction to the regional WEAP model for
the Jordan basin.
Members of Staff from HWE
attended the 12th Regional Meeting of the Arab IHP National Committees on Climate
Change in theArab Region from 6-8 Nov, 2007 in Al Ein, United Emirate.
Member of Staff from HWE
attended Horizon 2020 and Private Investors Conference from 22-23 Oct, 2007 in
Athens, Greece.
Within the activities of
Tempus project, Eng. Jumana Abu Sada and Eng. Jamal Zeitawi –GIS Specialists at HWE
-attended the meeting for the project partners’ staff at Newcastle University-UK during
the period, 16th-25th October 2007. The main objective of this meeting was to build the
Palestinian partners’ staff capacity in Geographic Information System (GIS),
to enhance their abilities to develop GIS curriculums for new courses intended to
be offered for the undergraduate students at the Al- Quds (AQU) and Bir Ziet (BZU)
Universities. This meeting provided the opportunities for curriculum development,
preparation of case study/Project material etc.
Staff of HWE attended the
International Conference on “Sustainable Development and Management of Water in
Palestine” which was organized by HWE at the InterContinental Hotel, Amman – Jordan,
from 27-29 Aug, 2007.
For more details, visit www.hwe.org.ps/conf7
Members of Staff from HWE attended
Evaluating and Adapting Existing Water Vision/Forecasts for shared Aquifer Management
in the MEDA Region from 30-31 July, 2007 in Cairo-Egypt.
Member of Staff from HWE attended
MARD/ Balancing Water Scarcity and Growing Demands in Agriculture from 26-29 June,
2007 in Jordan/ Dead Sea.
Members of Staff from HWE
attended the Tempus Meeting/kick off from 18-22 June, 2007 in Newcastle- UK.
Members of Staff from HWE
attended Congress River Basin Management from 22-24 March, 2007 in Antalya -Turkey.
Members of Staff from HWE attended
Kick off meeting of the 5th WWF from 18-21 March, 2007 in Istanbul -Turkey.
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House of Water and Environment organized on 18 December, 2006, a workshop on renewable
energy in Ramallah, attended by a number of Palestinian and German experts.
The Palestinian experts were from BirZeit and Annajah universities, water and energy authorities, Jerusalem Electricity Company, Palestinian
Hydrology Group and others.
The experts discussed how to use the technology for solar radiation for electricity
generation and desalination of water.
Dr.Amjad Aliewi explained the importance of using this technology in Palestine with
confirmation that the Palestinians should first their water rights in the Jordan
River and groundwater basins and all means of water resources.
Eng Yousef Awayes, a director general in the Palestinian Water Authority-(PWA)
and Eng. Deeb Abdalghafour from the PWA spoke about the water status of water
supply in the West Bank, while Eng. Ahmad Yaqubi, a director
general in the PWA, spoke about the Palestinian experience in using solar in Gaza,
showing the needs for additional fresh water resources in Gaza.
Dr. Imad Braik from Annajah University spoke about the potentiality of using the
solar radiation in Palestine.
Dr. Omar Kittaneh, the head of the Energy Authority in Palestine spoke about the
importance of using this technology in developing Palestine.
Professor Gerhard Kneis from Germany gave examples about the practicalities of this
technology and water it was applied in the Middle East.
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Within the context of the inter-regional project on “Capacity building for Sustainable
Utilization, Management and Protection of Internationally Shared Groundwater in
the Mediterranean Region”.
The United Nations Economic & Social Commission forWestern Asia (ESCWA),was
jointly organizing with the Regional Center for Training and Water Studies (RCTWS)
at the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Network on Groundwater
in the Arab Region (NGWP), UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), UN Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA), UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization-International
Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP) and UN-Department for Economic and Social Affairs
(UN-DESA) a training seminar on “Groundwater Modelling and Data Analysis”. This
seminar was taken place from 1 to 8 December 2006 at RCTWS, Egypt.
There were 9 participants in
this training course one of them is Eng. Amjad Assi from House of Water and Environment
the others are Mr. Ismail Karray (Water Resources, Tunisia), Mr. Nidal Khalifa (Groundwater
Modeller, Jordan), Mrs. Mona Fakih (Head of Service of Research and Hydraulic Structures,
Lebanon), Mr. Hassan Fayad (Director Deputy, Syria), Mr. Ahmad Abdallah (Hydrogeologist
in ACSAD, Syria), Mrs. Halima Mamou (Research Groundwater, Tunisia), Mr. Mohamed
Hindi (Civil Engineer at Water Research Institute for Groundwater, Egypt), and Mrs.
Heba Abdel Aziz (Civil Engineer at Water Research Institute for Groundwater, Egypt).
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With the framework of Euro Mediterranean
Water Information System – EMWIS Project (http://www.emwis.net), Eng. Jamal Alqadi the IT and IS Manager of House
of Water and Environment,
was nominated by the Palestinian Water Authority to represent the Palestinian National
Focal Point in the Data Managers Seminar, between 13 and 15 Nov, 2006 in Spain-Madrid,
Since he was a member of the project's IT Group for more than 5 Years,The
seminar's objective is to provide complementary information and training to help
the NFP in improving their web sites.
This seminar aims at:
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Discussing an approach for the collection and the diffusion of water projects information
in each country and at the regional level (in connation with the data base implemented
on the new portal).
-
Reviewing the progress on the syndication of news and events, in particular on the
basis of experiences carried out with Algeria, Spain and France (shared and automatic
re-use of the news produced by the various focal points using XML flows). The last
version of the metadata of EMWIS will be provided to the NFP.
-
Reviewing the potential syndication of other types of content, e.g. the water legislation
.
-
Examining the progress, the use and the enhancement of the common multilingual hesaurus/glossary
on water: English, Arab, French, Spanish (Italian -under development).
-
Making a self-evaluation of NFP and international web sites in order to improve
their Content.
-
Discussing the future of the national portals
1. Technological and thematic watch.
2. Assessment
of user needs and new information products.
3. News sections topics (working groups, topical
studies, etc).
-
Giving a synthetic vision of the Spanish Water Information
systems for future exchanges on know-how make between country experts.
Also, Eng. Jamal Alqadi conducted a presentation about
(Palestinian Water Authority and Exchanging Water Information with other NGOs)
 PWA and NGOs
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"Assessment, Monitoring and Protection of Groundwater Pollution in Urban Areas"
Workshop in Argentina, July 24-30, 2006 organized by UNESCO- IHE
With the framework of the PoWER project, UNESCO-IHE invited Eng. Amjad Assi
- Research
Associate at House of Water and Environment to
participate in the workshop which was held at Blas Pascal University, Cordoba,
Argentina from July 24-30, 2006.
With the framework of the PoWER Joint Research Project between
UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (Netherlands), Blas Pascal
University (Argentina), Indian Institute of Technology (Roorkee, India).
Birzeit University and House of Water and Environment (Palestine)
are working together in this project. UNESCO-IHE invited Eng. Amjad Assi - Research Associate
at House of Water and Environment to participate in the project
workshop which was held at Blas Pascal University, Cordoba, Argentina from July
24-30, 2006.
The participants in the workshop were;
1. Yangxiao Zhou, PhD - Associate Professor in Hydrology – UNESCO-IHE.
2. Dr. D. C. Singhal – Professor in Department of Hydrology
– Indian Institute of Technology – Roorkee.
3. Dr. Alberto Emilio Ferral – The Head of the Environmental
Department
and he is also the Secretary of Extension
and International Relations –
Blas Pascal University.
4. Dr. Eugenia Alaniz – Blas Pascal University.
5. Eng. Amjad Assi – Research Associate – House of Water and
Environment.
In this workshop, work plans were prepared for all partners. Moreover, a video conference
between the team in Argentina and UNESCO_IHE was performed so as to discuss such
joint projects.
There will be some publications and papers in national and international journals
at the end of this project.
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CBT Project Meeting at the National Committee of UNESCO
in Ramallah,13 May, 2006.
Network Committee (of which HWE
is a member) met, 13 May, 2006, at the offices of the National UNESCO Committee
in Ramallah with those members in GAZA through the Video Conference and took the
following recommendations to be considered by the project directors in
UNESCO-Cairo Office:
1- To seek with the donor (Belgium) the possibility to extend the project beyond
31/12/2006.
2- To meet again to decide about the preparation of an internationl water conferance
to be held in Palestine.
1- Dr. Amjad Aliewi attended a preparation Meeting for the SWITCH Project
from 21-24 June, 2005
in Delft, Holland.
2- Eng. Muath Abu Saada from HWE
and Dr. Nidal Mahmoud from Birzeit
University attended the Kick-off
meeting of SWITCH Project in Delft, Holland During the period,
17-23 April, 2006 .
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"Shared Groundwater Aquifers" Workshop in Beirut, April 24-25, 2006 organized by ESCWA
Dr. Amjad Aliewi, the Director - General of HWE and as an advisor to the Palestinian
Water Authority attended a workshop in Beirut, April 24-25, 2006 organized by ESCWA
on shared ground water aquifers.
The workshop was entitled "Formulation of a policy framework to support the establishment
of mechanisms for inter-state cooperation on shared groundwater aquifers in the
Mediterranean Region.
The workshop adopted a number of conclusions and recommendations for further actions.
To see Dr Aliewi's presentation, Click
shared aquifers
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"tempQsim" - open
scientific conference in Montepllier - France on April 25-27, 2006
Dr. Amjad Aliewi, the Direcor-General of HWE was invited to present
a talk about Watershed Modelling in Palestine in a conference called, "tempQsim"
- open scientific conference, which was held in Montpllier on
April 25-27, 2006, France.
The title of his presentation was "Watershed modelling and biomonitoring to determine
optimal restoration strategies for intermittent transboundary streams between Palestine
and Israel.
To see the entire presentation
click
RIVER RESTORATION 2.99 Mb
To know more about the tempQsim, Please visit
the website www.tempqsim.net
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