ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. IWR hosted a visit from the Singapore Housing & Development Board, Infrastructure & Reclamation Department at IWR on March 21, 2013 to discuss USACE adaptation to climate change and conflict resolution approaches. IWR Director Bob Pietrowsky provided an overview of USACE, IWR and International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM) water resources activities.
Dr. Kate White, who leads IWR’s Climate and Global Change team, spoke about how USACE is infusing climate change concepts into the Civil Works program. Dr. Hal Cardwell, who leads the USACE IWR Conflict Resolution and Public Participation Center and Directory of Expertise, discussed how other levels of government and civil society are involved in decision-making in the U.S.
Dr. Guillermo Mendoza with ICIWaRM, a Category II UNESCO center located at IWR, talked about ICIWaRM’s involvement in the Alliance for Global Water Adaptation’s (AGWA) initiative, co-chaired by the World Bank and Conservation International, to the next generation of climate-adaptive best practices in water management for engineering, economics/finance, hydrology, ecology and governance. Dr. Mendoza discussed a number of IWR efforts including application of shared vision and strategic scenario planning.
Mr. Andy Bruzewicz spoke about the USACE Civil-Military Emergency Preparedness (CMEP) program, including efforts to address extreme weather and increasingly variable climate as additional stressors affecting disaster planning and preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation and adaptation.
Visitors from the Singapore Housing & Development Board, Infrastructure & Reclamation Department included Mr. Chua Kok Eng and Ms. Kee Sanyin. Mr. Eng and Ms. Sanyin were in D.C. as their project “My Waterway@Punggol, Singapore” was one of the five finalists shortlisted for the 2013 ASCE Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award. They attended the ASCE OPAL dinner event that evening where MG Bo Temple, USA (Ret.) was honored as a recipient of the Outstanding Projects And Leaders (OPAL) award.
Learn More