Agenda UV

The Lopez Piñero Institute for the History of Medicine and Science (mixed centre of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the University of Valencia), with headquarters in the Cerveró Palace, presented the exhibition 'The Water Sphere' last Tuesday 26 February, at 12:00, produced by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and Aqualogy. The launch ceremony was attended, as institutional managers, by María Luz López Terrada, director of the Institute for the History of Medicine and Science (IHMC), Àlvar Martínez Vidal, deputy director of the Institute for the History of Medicine and Science (IHMC) and Patricio García-Fayos, researcher of the Institute for the History of Medicine and Science (IHMC) and director in duties of the Desertification Research Centre (CIDE).

Just as García-Fayos has emphasised during the presentation, “the main purpose of this exhibition is to increase the scientific culture about water and, in this way, to change attitudes in regards to its control and use”. Additionally he has pointed out that, “the proliferation in water consumption has led to an increase in the perception of drought; that is to say, there is talk about drought long before it was made only a few decades ago”. On the other hand, he has stated the importance of knowing the water trace of the products and services that we regularly consume. It is the amount of water used to obtain a specific product. The knowledge of the water trace enables a more responsible and sustainable use.

The itinerant exhibition will be in Valencia until next 14 March and it has been organised within the framework of the International Year of the Water Sphere Cooperation 2013. Being composed of 20 panels, it is found in two big blocks. The first, Water and Nature, continues with the water cycle course, its relation with climate and ecosystems. The second, Water and Society, the exhibition delves into the influence of humankind on the natural water cycle, its pollution, as well as in the solutions for the potable water access, without forgetting the relation between water and history, health and technology.

The contents of the exhibition have been prepared by researchers working on the search for answers and solutions in the water sphere: Antoni Ginebreda (scientific curator), Joan Grimalt, Francesc Gallart, Jesús Carrera, Damià Barceló and Rafael Rodríguez Clemente, all of them belonging to the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), CSIC; as well as Luis Calvo, researcher of the Milà i Fontanals Institution (CSIC) and institutional coordinator of CSIC in Catalonia.