GEM Critical Issues International Seminar Series opens Oct. 3
South African Kevin Winter to lecture on "Building Sustainable Communities in South Africa"
Dialog and interaction between communities is key to improving conditions for people living in degraded environments, according to Dr. Kevin Winter, a lecturer and researcher at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa.
Winter, the lead researcher in the Integrated Urban Water Management research group at UCT, will open the third season of the GEM Critical Issues International Seminar Series. The theme for the 2006-2007 academic year is “Sustainable Communities.”
Winter’s lecture, “Helping citizens build sustainable communities in South Africa,” is at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 3, in the ballroom (Salons E and F) of the Country Springs Hotel, 1501 North Point Drive in Stevens Point. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Winter’s research interests lie in determining the impacts of diffuse pollution on surface and ground water in catchments. Currently research is being conducted on the generation and determination of greywater quality; attitudes towards the re-use of greywater in non-sewered areas; and the establishment of environmental impacts caused by greywater. The generation and treatment of greywater are critical environmental issues facing the country for which there are no easy solutions. Re-use of greywater is often not an option.
While technical knowledge to deal with the problem is readily available, the solutions often lie in the social behavior of residents. Given changing socio-political and economic developments in South Africa, past solutions and practices are no longer acceptable as a norm. Building sustainable communities in South Africa now focuses on addressing past legacies of injustice and inequality while strengthening democracy and building trust.
Winter is Chair of the Friends of the Liesbeek, a volunteer interest-based group involved in the conservation of an urban river and education of the public. He is an active participant of the Water and Sewage Committee under the auspices of the Betty’s Bay Ratepayers Association. This group is involved in monitoring and contributing to decisions for future sanitation options in the coastal town of Betty’s Bay, southwestern Cape.
The second Critical Issues seminar, scheduled for Nov. 14, will feature Darren Doherty, an Australian who has worked as an environmental consultant for more than a dozen years and is an expert in sustainable property design. Doherty also teaches Permaculture, the design of environmentally sensitive agriculture production systems. He will teach a GEM-hosted two-week Permaculture Design Certificate course while in Stevens Point.
The GEM Critical Issues International Seminar Series is supported by funding from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
