９７８：オクスフォード大ＯＷＦＰ

以前書いたと思うが、オックスフォード大のサリバン女史がＣＶＩやＷＰＩの提言を行っていた。彼女は別の大学からオックスフォード大の研究者になったのだが、教授職には就いていなかった。

オックスフォード大もイギリスの最高学府だからそう簡単には教授職にはつけないのだろう。あれから２年。彼女はオックスフォードを離れたようだ。今は豪州のある大学の助教授になった。

オックスフォード大も水資源に係るプログラムを展開している。まだ卒業生には会っていないが、下記にプログラムの概要を転記する。

アメリカに行くより、イギリスがいいと以前書いた。ただ学費も高くなりそうだし、流石にオックスフォード大だけあって入るのには難しい。ハーバード大クラスかな。要求される英語力もＴＯＥＦＬでは１２０点満点で１０６である。昔のＴＯＥＦＬだと６００点をかなり超えるぐらいか。

水資源管理の勉強をしたい人はアクセスしてみてください。アメリカに行くよりはずっといいと思う。まだ日本人は行っていなようだね。

Achieving and sustaining water security is a major 21st Century challenge for human society. The quest for water security has been a struggle throughout history; success in managing water for human settlement and food production, as well as for energy and transport, has defined many of the world's great civilizations. Past changes in the water environment have caused the collapse of civilizations and large-scale human movement. Relatively rapid 21st Century changes in populations, economies, political systems and climate will have substantial impacts on water resources. Predicted water futures indicate escalating water demand and deteriorating water ecosystems, resulting in increasing costs of and competition for water, coupled with significantly increased risks of serious flood and drought shocks. Unmanaged, these water futures will lead to widespread water insecurity, resulting in very high costs in terms of human suffering, sustained poverty, constrained growth, migration, and social unrest. Effective management of these water futures to achieve and sustain water security requires a blend of inter-sectoral interventions, inter-disciplinary skills, and public and private actions, at community, local, municipal, national, and global levels. Government, business and civil society leaders are increasingly recognizing the imperative of water security, and seek inter-disciplinary research and skills to ensure effective water management and development in a changing world.

The Oxford Water Futures Programme (OWFP) undertakes fundamental and applied research aimed at providing underpinning science and policy advice to achieve water security at all scales, and provides postgraduate and executive training to build a cadre of water professionals with the inter-disciplinary skills needed to address water futures.

Within the School of Geography and the Environment, the OWFP is currently engaged in three dimensions of water security:

The changing water environment
- climate change, catchment hydrology, geo-hydrology, ecosystem dynamics and geomorphology.

Water and society
- governance, law, policy, regulation, politics, human development and economics.
Educational innovation
- MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management.
The OWFP also acts as the focal point for academics with interests in water in the Social Sciences Division, and for links with other University Divisions.