ISO Workshop in Israel to Address Multiple Resource Productivity

Few would dispute the important role that consistent access to essential resources such as water, food, and energy play in combating privation and boosting continued economic growth. But the interconnections between these resources are often overlooked. Currently, no international standard exists to address multiple resource evaluation, despite a pressing international need for guidance on considering these interconnections in relation to resource sustainability and conservation.

To more fully examine the possible approaches to address this need, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) will hold a workshop aimed at helping to develop an ISO-published International Workshop Agreement (IWA) on guidelines for multiple resource evaluation. The workshop will be hosted in July in Haifa, Israel, by the Standards Institution of Israel (SII), the Israeli member body to ISO.

The workshop was proposed by SII and approved by ISO's Technical Management Board (TMB). Participants are encouraged to submit in advance of the workshop relevant existing documents, including standards, for review. The proposed IWA is expected to serve as a framework document for the fundamentals of multiple resource evaluation and will cover models and optimization related to water, land, energy, and other resources. The workshop, which will be held in English, will include general discussion of issues related to the creation of multiple resource evaluation guidelines, along with working group sessions and presentations from IWA participants.

Open to all interested parties, the workshop will be held at the Dan Panorama Haifa Hotel (107 Hanassi Avenue) on July 8-11, 2013. Participants are required to preregister for the event and pay a $250 registration fee in order to take part. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) encourages all interested stakeholders, including representatives from government, industries, and non-government organizations involved in work related to resource management and sustainability, to attend the workshop.

To view the workshop overview, draft agenda, registration form, and hotel reservation form, please click here. For more information about the workshop, contact Yaron Ben-Ari, SII's water technologies program manager, at [email protected], or Revital Maor, SII's international standardization coordinator, at [email protected].