Managing Water for the City of the Future

News

Welcome to the new SWITCH Associate City of Dunedin

SWITCH is very pleased to welcome Dunedin as a new SWITCH Associate City in recognition of its support of the SWITCH approach of more sustainable and integrated urban water management. This has been through collaboration between the University of South Florida and the University of Birmingham, led by Daniel Yeh and Rae Mackay, to pilot the CityWater decision making framework with local Floridian stakeholders.

Located on the Gulf of Mexico, Dunedin faces challenges similar to many other coastal cities including protection of its urban well field from salt water intrusion, providing high quality water to its citizens and adapting to climate change.

Dunedin's innovative approaches to urban water management are providing concrete examples of how cities around the world can act now to ensure a more sustainable future, particularly in relation to:

• Dunedin's careful management of its urban well field system
• A 'near closed loop' urban water management approach, through the extensive use of recycled wastewater for irrigation and stormwater infiltration
• Innovative wireless metering for conservation and management of both drinking and reclaimed water systems
• A commitment to sustainability, through the Certified Green Local Government designation and other green initiatives.

Dunedin's experiences and leadership in managing water resources can serve as a model for other coastal sites and can be a valuable input into the SWITCH Global Learning Alliance network.

To find out more about Dunedin's activities, please explore the links below:

• Story by USF Media on USF, Univ Birmingham and Dunedin
  (June 2010)
• Dunedin TV story on SWITCH
  (August 2010 – start at 12:09 into the video)
• Daniel Yeh presentation to Dunedin City Commission
  (August 2010 – start at 26:55 into the video)

SWITCH 'Sustainable Urban Water Management in the City of the Future' Study Tour

The SWITCH team, in close collaboration with UNESCO-IHE, organised a study tour from 7th to 12th June with participants from Poland, Egypt, Ghana, Israel and Colombia. The purpose of this was to exchange ideas on integrated urban water management. The tour included the cities of Culemborg, Groningen, Oisterwijk, Vught, Hapert in the Netherlands, and Dusseldorf, Germany. The group was accompanied by a film crew which recorded the site visits and interviews with the participants. This footage will be used as educational material during workshops on innovations and integrated urban water management.

For more information, see the blog at http://switchwatersummit.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/switch-kicks-off-with-final-study-tour/. Follow our Tweets on http://twitter.com/WATERSUMMIT. Please use the hashtag #SWITCHSUMMIT for this.

If you have any news items that you would like to be included on the website or in the next SWITCHED ON! newsletter, please email switchnews@lboro.ac.uk.