News & Events
Conference Speakers and Presentations
Conference Welcome and Keynote address
William R. Headley, C.S.Sp., Ph.D., Dean of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies Play Video Biography (PDF) Ami Carpenter, Ph.D., Conference Co-chair, Assistant Professor at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies
Play Video Biography (PDF) Oscar Romo, Ph.D., Watershed Coordinator, Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve Play Video Biography (PDF) Michel Boudrias, Ph.D., Conference Co-chair, Chair of the Marine Science and Environmental Studies Department and Academic Director of the Sustainability Initiative at the University of San Diego Play Video Biography (PDF)
Panel One: “Water, Climate and Conflict Resolution: the Future of Environmental Security”
Panelists connect global perspectives on water security, climate change and conflict resolution, with regional and local dilemmas. Specifically, this panel highlights the ecological interdependence in the San Diego-Tijuana region around water and climate change, and explains the rationale and benefits of a regional approach to managing risk. Panelists address general risks to human and national security of climate change and environmental degradation around the world, and explore specific risks and future projections of negative impact – in the San Diego-Tijuana region, particularly emphasizing water. Approaches to trans-border governance were introduced.
Moderated by Michel Boudrias, Question and Answer Session:Exequiel Ezcurra, Ph.D., Director and Professor of Plant Ecology UC- Mexus, University of California, Riverside
“Key Elements for a Sustainable, Conservationist Approach to Water Management at the San Diego-Tijuana Border”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Daniel R. Cayan, Ph.D., Research Meteorologist, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
“A Warmer, Drier Future – Prospects of Climate Change”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Serge Dedina, Ph.D., Executive Director/ Director Ejecutivo, WiLDCOAST/COSTASALVAjE
“Playa Azul: A New Vision for Ecosystem Restoration, Wildlife Conservation and Community Health in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Todd Jarvis, Ph.D., Associate Director, Institute for Water and Watersheds, Oregon State University
“The Dilemma of Boundaries: Looking Beyond the Basin for Benefits and Identity”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF)
Working Session I: “The Water Message Game: Water and Conflict Prevention”
The water game simulates competitive behavior in reaching co-operative water agreements. The game teaches us how to deal with such negotiations. Delegates will experience how easily trust can be broken and how difficult it is to re-gain it. This role play has been organized in a wide variety of settings (conferences, seminars for decision makers, training sessions for young, mid-level and high-level professionals, training courses for master’s students), with participants from various disciplines (law, geography, diplomacy, engineering, social sciences, geology etc.) and geographical (Guayaquil,Cape Town, Maputo, Dar el Salam, Rome, HohChi Minh City, Mexico, Ghana, Delft, etc.) backgrounds. It has always yielded surprising results. In the most competitive settings, people have shown extreme cooperative attitude and vice versa.
Lead facilitator Léna Salamé, Program Specialist, From Potential Conflict to Co-operation Potential, UNESCO Division of Water Sciences Play Video Biography (PDF)
Panel Two: “Hydro-Diplomacy: Global Best Practices”
This panel discusses the positive impacts of Hydro-Diplomacy – collaborative efforts between
policymakers, community organizations, tribal and indigenous peoples, and private sector interests
– in supporting adaptation to climate change, and preventing and mitigating environmental
degradation. Cases include India-Bangladesh-Nepal, Israel-Palestine-Jordan, and U.S.- Canada.
Panelists will distill best global practices for transboundary water management
Moderated by Ami Carpenter, Question and Answer Session: Play VideoGabriel Eckstein, Ph.D., Director, Center for Water Law and Policy, Texas Tech University
“Water Diplomacy and Management in the Middle East”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Bharat H. Desai, Ph.D., Jawaharlal Nehru Chair in International Environmental Law, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
“Sharing of Transboundary Water Resources: Lessons from the Indian Sub-continent”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Saleem Ali, Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources
“Water Security and the Role of International Institutions”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Jacques Ganoulis, Ph.D., UNESCO Chair and Network INWEB, Department of Civil Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
“Engaging Stakeholders in Transboundary Water Resources Management: Lessons Learned from Cases in South Eastern Europe”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF)
“Envision Possibilities: Transboundary Water Management in
San Diego – Tijuana Border Region”Joint Discussion moderated by Michel Boudrias and Ami Carpenter with:
Roberto Espinosa, Project Manager, Tijuana Office, Mexico Section of International Boundary and Water Commission Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Carlos Peña, Division Engineer, Environmental Management Division, U.S. Section of International Boundary and Water Commission
Download Presentation Biography (PDF)
Panel Three: “Applying Collective Wisdom: Future of the Tijuana River Watershed”
This panel will use the Tijuana River Watershed, a microcosm of the complex issues involved in
transboundary water management, to explore the challenges and opportunities for greater binational
governance. This panel will identify the biggest challenges – including securing political will and
funding for managing the watershed – and prospects for sustainable solutions voiced by stakeholders
and tribal communities.Richard Gersberg, Ph.D., Professor of Environmental Health at the Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University
“The Tijuana River Estuary: The Good, the Bad and the Warming”Play Video Dowload Presentation Biography (PDF) Polioptro Martínez Austria, Ph.D., Director, Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología del Agua
“Research and Technology Opportunities in Mexico”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF) Bill Toone, Executive Director, ECOLIFE Foundation
“Resolved Community Conflicts: Lessons Learned from Bridging Different Community Interests and Environmental Conservation/Preservation.”Play Video Biography (PDF) Michael Connolly Miskwish, Environmental Consultant, Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University
“The Search for Rationality in Water Policy”Play Video Download Presentation Biography (PDF)
Assembly Member Lori Saldaña, Speaker Pro Tempore, California State Legislature
“Challenges of the Tijuana River Watershed – A Political Priority?”Play Video Biography (PDF)
Moderated by Rick van Schoik, Director of North American Center for Transboundary Studies, Arizona State University Play Video of Q&A Session Biography (PDF)
Working Session II: “Water the ‘Catalyst’ - Overcoming Diplomatic Barriers”
Environmental conflict resolution is collaborative problem-solving that brings together the parties of interest to address controversies related to the use and management of natural resources, development and growth, and individual and community health. Managing conflicts effectively is a two-step process that consists of:
• Creatively and insightfully diagnosing what is causing a conflict, and
• Effectively and skillfully taking action to resolve the conflict.
In this workshop, we introduce analytical models (“Circle of Conflict” and “Dimensions of Conflict”) and invite delegates to reflect on the main drivers of conflicts over the shared Tijuana River Valley Watershed. We will discuss the major kinds of environmental conflict – Upstream (planning and policy-making), Midstream (administrative permitting), and Downstream (monitoring, compliance, enforcement and cleanup) – and discuss both existing
and new approaches to conflict resolution (advisory groups, task forces, mediation,
joint fact-finding, policy dialogues).Lead facilitators Ami Carpenter, and Charles B. Wiggins
Charles B. Wiggins, Professor of Law (retd), University of San Diego and Guest Professor, University of Amsterdam Biography (PDF)
Working Session III: “Greening the Border” (Consensus-building workshop)
Being a core of the conference experience, this workshop enhances our collective capacity for collaboration and change. The basic idea is to build collaborative strategies around what works, rather than trying to fix what doesn’t. It is the opposite of problem-solving. To this end, we will: (1) identify a shared vision of a healthy, green border to guide our work; (2) identify our regional core strengths – including the contribution of individuals; (3) aim to generate a flow of new, creative ideas, and (4) agree on concrete steps – based on existing or new initiatives – to hasten our progress toward realizing that vision. This workshop explicitly encourages the formation of alliances between formerly polarized groups, and builds bridges across boundaries of power and authority. It will enable us to identify the most supportive public policies for transboundary resource management and to address challenges such as securing political will, funding and other resources for increased collaboration on shared priorities.
Lead facilitators Michel Boudrias, Ami Carpenter, and Charles B. Wiggins
Introductory comments by:
Richard Wright, California Water Quality Control Board
Carl Nettleton, OpenOceans Global
Keynote address on Wednesday, November 18
From the Boardroom to the Border: Negotiating for Sustainable Agreements
William Ury, Ph.D., co-founder and senior fellow of the Harvard Negotiation Project and co-author of Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.
Presented by Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture SeriesIn his keynote address, Ury discussed interest-based negotiation and the importance of cultural understanding when confronted by multiple interests in international agreements.
Ury's lecture is now available online and can also be viewed on UCTV. (television schedule)
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