January 27, 2004

The Banff Centre Attracts World Water Forum

In the wake of the Mountains as Water Towers Summit held in November 2003, The Banff Centre has attracted one of the world's elite conferences on water policy and watershed management. Created through an endowment from the Bank of America, and named after the bank's former president, the Rosenberg Water Forum is a biennial invitational gathering of world leaders in international water policy. The fall 2006 forum will be held at The Banff Centre.

Bob Sandford, chair of the United Nations International Year of Fresh Water and Wonder of Water initiative in Canada, extended the invitation to meet in Banff at the most recent meeting of the forum's organizing committee, held in Barcelona, Spain. The meeting finalized plans for the forum to be held in the fall of 2004 in Ankara, Turkey and confirmed Banff as the location for the fall 2006 meeting.

“It was the reputation The Banff Centre gained through the Water Towers Summit and the natural attraction of our UNESCO Canadian Rockies World Heritage Site that made Banff the unanimous choice for the forum,” said Sandford.

Leslie Taylor, one of the organizers of the Mountains as Water Towers Summit and associate director, Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre, says confirmation that the Rosenberg Forum will meet in Banff is welcome news. “Forums such as this confirm Banff as a world centre for the exploration of globally significant issues in mountain environments. We can learn a great deal from how others are addressing water problems that we are just beginning to face here in the Canadian Rockies.”

The principal themes for the 2006 Rosenberg World Water Forum will be issues in mountain watersheds, including the impacts of climate change on water agreements and treaties, and issues related to water scarcity in areas of perceived abundance. Representatives from more than 20 countries are expected to attend.

Canadian representatives will also participate at the Rosenberg Forum in Turkey this fall. At this forum, problems associated with managing river systems such as the Tigris-Euphrates, the Nile, and the Danube will be compared to the growing complexity of managing international water systems such as the Columbia River.

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Media Contact
Leslie Taylor, associate director, Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre
Phone: 403-762-6215
email: leslie_taylor@banffcentre.ca

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Mountain Culture at The Banff Centre promotes understanding and appreciation of the world’s mountain places by creating opportunities for people to share — and find inspiration in — mountain experiences, ideas and challenges.