The 7th International Symposium on Water Resource and Environmental Management (WREM 2024) took place in Zhejiang University (Zhoushan Campus), China from December 6th to 7th, 2024. Dr Phillip Williams, Lecture from School of Languages, Education and Cultures of SBC was invited to deliver a presentation on water management in Europe in history and engaged in discussion among researchers, scientists, engineers and professionals from all over the world.
Dr Phillip Williams said: “The excellent papers presented by the other speakers dealt with a wide range of scientific and geographical issues: new filters to combat pollution and toxins; AI, satellite technology and the measurement of ocean water temperatures; the management of China's rivers and waterways.”
“My paper offered some historical perspectives about the ‘little ice age’ and water resources in Europe in the period 1500-1800. For Europe, as for all societies of this time, the control and exploitation of rivers, waterways, wells, aquafers, lakes, sluices and dams was crucial to their development and well-being. My presentation examined both the ‘general crisis’ of the seventeenth-century and the economic expansion after 1700, when water resources were managed more logically. There are, I argued, grounds for optimism. This historical lesson, taken with pioneering research presented by other speakers, offers hope for the future.”
This conference offered a platform for attendees to explore innovative technologies for water treatment and discuss policy frameworks for environmental sustainability, for water resources to be managed in a more informed and enlightened manner, resulting in healthy ecosystems as well as equitable and sustainable use of water resources for multiple uses.
