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Professor Eric Dannenmaier has been working with Italy’s National Research Council, Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, as part of the Scientific Committee responsible for designing and moderating the workshop, “Environmental Security: Workshop on Water Security, Management and Control,” which took place in Marrakech, Morocco, May 31-June 3, 2010.

Professor Dannenmaier’s participation in the Workshop grew out of his longstanding research in the area of natural resource scarcity and environmental security. He has taught and written about water scarcity and water law in particular, and this issue is central to countries in the Southern Mediterranean.

The workshop convened Northern African and European government representatives and scientists to examine emerging risks to regional water resources and the potential for scarcity to generate conflict. Participants discussed new approaches to the strategic assessment of critical factors (including land use practices, deforestation, water scarcity, and water quality) as a means to prevent domestic and international conflict. It was sponsored by NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme and co-hosted by Morocco’s Ministry of Higher Education.

Professor Dannenmaier chaired a 2-part simulation among participants to deepen their understanding of institutional roles in facing and defusing water scarcity crises. He also presented a paper in the Workshop’s opening session on “Identifying Stakeholders and Engaging Policymakers,” which examined the emerging concept of environmental security and its relevance for water scarcity and degradation concerns in the Southern Mediterranean region. Dannenmaier stressed the importance of coordinating the work of policymakers and the scientific community to assess resource threats and address priority concerns to protect populations which are uniquely water-dependent.

Dannenmaier was also invited to review his research at a lecture sponsored by the Richard G. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy on Wednesday on April 14, 2010. Dannenmaier’s Lugar Center lecture, “Natural Resources and National Security,” examined the increasing relevance of environmental security for the United States. It was sponsored by the Lugar Center’s new Policy, Economics, and Law Working Group, which Professor Dannenmaier has recently joined.