OneWater Science Days / July 2023
The OneWater Science Days were held at Université Claude Bernard – Lyon 1 on 10-12 July. Close on 200 participants attended this event, the first of its kind.
This conference was aimed at the French water scientific community and those involved in the related issues from the socio-economic sphere. Participants from various backgrounds were invited to discover and discuss the issues raised by the OneWater – Eau Bien Commun national research programme.
The event was opened by Frédéric Fleury, chair of Université Claude Bernard – Lyon 1, and introduced by the Executive Directors of the three institutions leading the research programme: Antoine Petit for the CNRS, Christophe Poinssot from the BRGM, and Philippe Mauguin for INRAE.
The Science Days comprised both plenary lectures and small group discussions. There were no fewer than 15 workshops on the themes involved in the OneWater challenges and two round tables on ‘Water as a Common Good in a context of uncertainty’.
Both local and international problems featured prominently in the discussions. Anne Grosperrin, Vice-President of the Lyon Metropolitan Council and President of the Greater Lyon Public Water Authority, provided a useful illustration when she presented Lyon’s ‘permeable city’ project, which is gradually being rolled out to restore water to its rightful place within the urban environment. Six of the 13 members of the OneWater International Scientific Committee (ISC) attended the event and offered their thoughts on the hydrological situation in France, based on their own experience.
The next OneWater Science Days will be held in 2025.