The Water Footprint Network invites you to join the Global Water Footprint Standard training course designed for professionals from businesses, governments, and academia including consultancies advising corporations or governments. The intensive course on Water Footprint Assessment Methodology & Application will be held on Tuesday May 28th till Thursday May 30th 2013 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This three day course is split into two sessions: (I) Water Footprint Assessment Concepts and Methodology (May 28/29) and (II) Implementing Water Footprint Assessment (May 30). If you have previously attended a Global Water Footprint Standard Training, you can attend Session II to learn more on technical aspects needed to carry out a complete Water Footprint Assessment.

Deadline for registration: 1^st of May 2013

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WFN addressing European Agriculture Water Use and Trade

WFN joined the The COST Action EURO-AGRIWAT (European Agriculture Water Use and Trade) as an organisation with expertise in this field. The programme runs till April 2016.. The COST Action will focus on the assessment of water footprint (WF) and virtual water trade (VWT) of key food and no-food agricultural products, including their uncertainties, as well as scenarios concerning WF and VWT under future climatic conditions. The use of advanced tools and data such as remote sensing, updated climatic databases, climatic projections/scenarios and agro meteorological models represents the base of the activity. The use of such instruments will allow a detailed analysis of interactions between crops, climate and management that will be taken into account in the WF assessment. An important component of the Action will be the preparation and dissemination of recommendations and guidelines for enabling a more efficient water resource management in relation with agricultural activities under climate change and variability. The framework of a COST Action represents the most suitable way for facing the outstanding and multi-faceted problem of sustainable water use, being characterized by a non-competitive and interdisciplinary environment of high scientific level. These features will allow a collaboration between scientists and stakeholders and the development of common strategies to broaden the available research expertise.

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Water Footprint Assessment Tool: Upcoming New Release

The Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) Tool is a free online web application assisting users in water footprint quantification, sustainability assessment and response formulation. The WFA Tool can be used by different types of organizations or individuals like: Companies, Governments, NGOs, Investors, Consultants or Researchers. The tool has been released in Beta version which has been tested extensively by Companies and investors to Assess Water Footprint in production processes, NGO’s and Governments to calculate river basin water consumption and virtual water export and identify ways to reduce the water footprint in specific basins. Generally interested individuals exploring the water footprint of specific river basins and sectors and to find out where and when there is water scarcity. Based on extensive feedback on the beta release, WFN has improved the tool on various fronts such as scope, functionalities and more importantly on user friendliness and data presentation. WFN expects the release of the finished version 1.0 in May 2013 and will report about all new exciting features in the upcoming WFN newsletter. Watch this space!