The LUMS Centre for Water Informatics and Technology (WIT), in collaboration with Media Lab and Nestle Pakistan, held a public screening of the documentary ‘River Garden’ on April 12, 2017.
Mass awareness of the conservation and management of water resources is one of the key critical objectives for the Centre for Water Informatics and Technology at LUMS. The 50-minute documentary, shared the vision proposed by Mr. James Wescoat Jr. (Agha Khan Professor at MIT), the Indus River Basin as a garden, followed by the realisation of this vision through the pioneering initiatives undertaken by WIT in the sector of Smart Water Grid technology.
‘River Garden’ is an effort to help bridge the communication gap between the academia, the general public, and stakeholders of Pakistan’s water-based economy to facilitate an understanding of water as a complete ‘system of systems.’ The film illuminated interesting aspects of the anthropology related to the River Indus in conjunction with the history of the architecture of the waterworks at the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore.
The documentary screening was attended by academics, water professionals, and students, as well as prominent industrialists and government officials. Syed Babar Ali, Pro-Chancellor LUMS, provided the closing remarks, saying, “We appreciate the efforts put in by the Centre for Water Informatics and Technology in raising awareness about the key challenges facing the Indus Basin’s future.”
An interactive discussion was also held with the key contributors: James L. Wescoat Jr., Sajjad Kausar (Author, Professor of Architecture and ex. Principal National College of Arts), Kamil Khan Mumtaz (renowned architect and conservationist), Abubakr Muhammad (Director WIT), Shahrukh Hamid (Director of 'River Garden’), Kunwar Schahzeb (Executive Producer of 'River Garden'), and Waqar Ahmad (Nestle Pakistan's Head of Corporate Affairs).
The screening of 'River Garden' was followed by a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between LUMS and WWF to facilitate research on water resource use, efficiency and management, climate change, biodiversity and related areas of research. The MoU was signed by Prof. Dr. S. Sohail H. Naqvi, the Vice Chancellor of LUMS and Mr. Hammad Naqi, Director WWF in the presence of Syed Babar Ali.
