EPIIC symposium examines world’s vital resources

Oil and water have been critical to the development and sustainability of civilizations, states and communities. As the world’s population and economies and industries grow, political leaders and policymakers are asking: What is the future of these vital resources?

 

©Jacob Silberberg

That will be the topic of the 2005 Norris and Margery Bendetson EPIIC International Symposium, which will take place February 23-27 on Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus.

The 20th anniversary symposium will feature more than 30 panelists from around the world who will debate issues, including “Resources and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations,” “Water in the Middle East,” “Oil: Blessing or Curse?” “Oceans and Economic Security” and “What Drives the Future of Energy?”

The annual symposium, which is organized by students in an EPIIC course taught by Sherman Teichman, also will feature the national launch of world-renowned photojournalist Antonin Kratochvil’s new publication, Vanishing, which examines several endangered life forms, from the human scavengers of the tin mines of Bolivia to the victims of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley.

In collaboration with the EPIIC symposium, Tufts’ Water: Systems, Science and Society research and graduate program will hold a two-day professional workshop February 26 and 27 on “Water as a Source of Conflict and of Cooperation: Exploring the Potential.”

For more information about the symposium and its related events, call 617-627-3314 or go to www.epiic.org.