Water as a Human Right

During 23–24 February 2017, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences organized a workshop, The Human Right to Water: An Interdisciplinary Focus and Contributions on the Central Role of Public Policies in Water and Sanitation Management, in Vatican City.

The roots of this academy are in the Academy of the Lynxes (Accademia dei Lincei), founded in Rome in 1603. It was the first exclusively scientific academy in the world. It was closed, and then re-established in 1847 by Pope Pius IX, and finally renewed and reconstituted in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. The present academy has interest in six major areas: fundamental sciences, science and technology of global problems, science for the problems of the developing world, scientific policy, bioethics and epistemology. It is multiracial in character and non-sectarian in choice of members. In recent decades it has stressed the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and has shown considerable interest in the ethical and environmental responsibilities of the scientific community.

By Cecilia Tortajada and Asit K. Biswas, 2017. Article published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, Volume 37, Issue 4, pages 509-511. DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2017.1321237

Article online