WASHINGTON, DC – February 5, 2010. A partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources (IWR) and The Florida International University (FIU) was finalized in Boulder, Colorado on January 12, 2010. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Mr. Robert A. Pietrowsky, Director of IWR, and Mr. Roberto Gutierrez, Director, Pre-Award, Office of Sponsored Research Administration for FIU.
The agreement provides a framework for collaboration in the fields of integrated water resources management and scientific research and capacity-building for developing countries and countries in transition.
The two institutions share a common commitment to solving global water challenges. IWR's International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM) was recently designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Category II Centre. As such, it is part of a global network of water centres "under the auspices of UNESCO" and committed to fulfilling the goals of UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme. FIU recently signed multi-year agreements with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to lead the Global Water for Sustainability (GLOWS) Program and with NASA for its WaterSCAPES Program.
The agreement is part of IWR's efforts to strengthen collaboration with universities with a track record for addressing international water problems, especially in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa. Other university partners include the University of Arizona, Colorado State University, and Oregon State University.
The agreement is part of USACE IWR's efforts to strengthen the Corps collaboration with universities with a track record for addressing international water problems. ICIWaRM supports the U.S. State Department in its work with UNESCO programs and the Corps South Atlantic Division and SOUTHCOM roles within Latin America and the Caribbean.
More about ICIWaRM
The International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM) was nominated in February 2008 by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) and the U.S. State Department through its mission to UNESCO as a global water centre (known as a Category 2 Centre) within the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) water network. The nomination of USACE IWR's centre was endorsed by the UNESCO IHP Bureau in March 2008, approved by the UNESCO IHP 36-member nation Intergovernmental Council in June 2008, endorsed by the UNESCO Executive Board in September 2009, and in October 2009 approved by all 193 of UNESCO's member states at the biennial General Conference at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. An agreement between the U.S. Government and UNESCO to establish ICIWaRM as a centre "under the auspices of UNESCO" was signed in New York on October 29, 2009. ICIWaRM resides within the U.S. Army Engineer Institute for Water Resources (IWR) and functions as a USACE knowledge center with access to technical capabilities Corps-wide. It also works in collaboration with other Federal agencies and several U.S. academic institutions and professional organizations sharing an interest in the advancement of the science and practice of integrated water resources management around the globe.
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