Water is a public good and a natural resource that should be accessible and recognised as a fundamental human right. Certain decisions within the European Union show a departure from the principle of guaranteeing this fundamental right to every resident. As many as two million people in the European Union already lack access to clean drinking water.
In Slovenia, many organisations and individuals have been campaigning since 2013 for the right of every individual to drinking water to be enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. At the Water Institute, in collaboration with the non-governmental organisation Umanotera, we are organising a discussion in support of these efforts: How do we treat the right to drinking water in Slovenia?
We invite you to join us for the discussion on Thursday, 21 April 2016, at 4.30 pm, at the Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, Trg prekomorskih brigad 3, 1000 Ljubljana. Attendance is free of charge; no registration is required.
The discussion will be opened with a short presentation by our guest Maude Barlow, an internationally recognised activist for the recognition of the right to water, chair of ‘Food and Water Watch’ and former water adviser to the President of the United Nations General Assembly.
Following the short presentation, the following speakers will join Maude Barlow in discussing the right to drinking water:
- Discussion moderator: Andrej Gnezda, Umanotera
- Dr Vasilka Sancin, Faculty of Law (University of Ljubljana) – Vice-Dean and Head of the Department of International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana
- Dr Pavel Gantar, retired associate professor of spatial sociology
- Dr Tjaša Griessler Bulc, Faculty of Health Sciences, Head of the Institute for Knowledge Transfer and Application
- Brane Golubovič, Civil Initiative for Slovenia, member and initiator of proceedings to amend the constitution in the field of drinking water
- Dr Lidija Globevnik, Slovenian Water Managers’ Association, Chair
- Dr Milenko Roš, Slovenian Water Protection Society, member of the Executive Board of the International Water Association (IWA)
- Dr Marjetka Levstek, Slovenian Water Protection Society – President, Head of the Laboratory and Development Tasks at the Domžale–Kamnik Central Wastewater Treatment Plant
- Bonia Miljavac, MD, Specialist in Hygiene, National Institute of Public Health, Head of the Novo Mesto Regional Unit
In the discussion on every person’s right to drinking water, the panellists, together with the participants, will primarily address key development issues:
- What are the dangers of privatising water resources?
- Why is it important to enshrine the right to drinking water in the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia?
- How can we ensure the environmentally and socially sustainable use of drinking water?
We invite you to join this discussion, which is important for the future of each and every one of us.