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Speakers announced for the EPA Water Conference on 16 and 17 June 2021

This year’s EPA Water Conference will be held online on 16 & 17 June 2021. This year’s theme is Water: integrating policy and practice. The conference is open to the public and there is no cost to attend.

Expert speakers will share their knowledge on how to protect & improve water quality in Ireland.

There will be opportunities to network, communicate with fellow attendees and participate in polling and Q&A sessions. There will be a panel discussion with questions and answers moderated by Tom Collins, An Fórum Uisce, on the second day.

Registration

You can register for free now at https://ti.to/waterconference/2021

Can you help us share the news?

We’d much appreciate some retweets of our tweet below to help spread the word about this conference.

Speakers announced for the EPA Water Conference on 16 and 17 June 2021 – this conference is open to the public and free to attend. https://t.co/4cpS8QdI7r
— EPA Catchments (@EPACatchments) May 27, 2021

Water Conference Programme

Download the 2021 EPA Water Conference Programme PDF

Wednesday 16 June	Day 1	Chair: Dr Eimear Cotter, Director, EPA Office of Evidence and Assessment
09:15	Log in to conference
09:30	Welcome and introduction
	Session 1: Setting the Scene
09:35	Opening address	Laura Burke, EPA Director-General
09:50	Integrating water and environment policy and protection	Dr Stéphane Isoard Head of Group, Water and Marine, European Environment Agency
10:10	Ireland’s third River Basin Management Plan	Feargal Ó’Coigligh, Assistant Secretary, Water Division, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage
10:30	Water governance in Ireland: a review of structures and processes	Dr Richard Boyle, Independent Research Consultant
10:50	Q&A
11:10	Coffee Break
	Session 2: Opportunities for multiple benefits
11:40	Valuing ecosystems	Prof. Jane Stout, Professor in Botany, Trinity College Dublin
12:00	Managing Ireland’s marine resources – the benefits of an integrated approach	Caitríona Nic Aonghusa, Section Manager for Marine Spatial Planning & Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Marine Institute
12:20	Opportunities for water quality from bog rehabilitation	Enda McDonagh, Environmental Manager, Bord na Móna
12:40	Q&A
13:00	Close of Day 1

Thursday 17 June	Day 2	Chair: Mary Gurrie, Water Progamme Manager, EPA Office of Evidence and Assessment
09:00	Log in to conference
09:15	Welcome and introduction
	Session 3: Looking forward – pressures and solutions
09:20	Standardisation of National Climate Services: supporting water decision making	Keith Lambkin, Senior Climatologist, Met Éireann
09:35	What does the new Drinking Water Directive mean for water protection?	Dr Michelle Minihan, Senior Inspector, Drinking Water, EPA Office of Environmental Enforcement
09:50	Securing drinking water supplies into the future	Angela Ryan, Water Resources Specialist, Irish Water
10:05	AgriFood 2030: the future for agriculture	Tom Arnold, Chair, 2030 Agri-Food Strategy Committee
10:25	Q&A
10:45	Tea/Coffee break
	Session 4: Working with communities: valuing water
11:15	Communities and water: a vision for the future	Bernie O’Flaherty, Regional Coordinator, Local Authority Waters Programme
11:30	Behavioural change: learning from SEAI’s work with communities	Ruth Buggie, Sustainable Energy Communities Programme Manager, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland
11:45	The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan: sharing stories to change behaviour	Dr Úna FitzPatrick, Chair of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan, National Biodiversity Data Centre
12:00	Citizen Science: DCU’s Water Blitz	Dr Susan Hegarty, Dublin City University Water Institute
12:15	Panel discussion with questions and answers	Chair: Professor Tom Collins, Chair, An Fóram Uisce / The Water Forum
12:50	Summary & closing remarks	Dr Tom Ryan, Director, EPA Office of Environmental Enforcement
13:00	Close of day 2

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.