The SIPAS | São Paulo International Groundwater Week aims to disseminate, debate, and educate about new scientific, technological, and management solutions for mitigating water crises. A central theme of the week is enhancing municipalities' resilience to increasing droughts. Through practical courses, demonstration visits, lectures, and educational activities, SIPAS enables society to deepen its understanding of groundwater, making the invisible visible and showcasing how these resources can act as powerful allies in addressing global climate change.
MARCH 19 TO 22, 2025
REGISTRATION FOR THE EVENT
To register, click the button above.
All activities are free of charge. A certificate of participation will be provided. Places are limited and the order of registration will be one of the criteria for filling them. For the course “Integrated Solutions for Resilient Cities”, preference will be given to representatives of institutions that work directly with the theme of water resources. To confirm your registration for field activities, such as Module 3 of the Course and HidroGeoDia, wait for an email from the event team. For Opening & Panel, Modules 1 and 2 of the Course and International Seminar, registration guarantees your place.
For more information, please contact us at sacre@usp.br.
GRUPOS DE WHATSAPP:
Para facilitar a comunicação antes e durante o SIPAS, criamos dois grupos de WhatsApp com finalidades distintas. Você será redirecionado para os grupos ao clicar nos botões no canto esquerdo!
Grupo dos Inscritos (Transporte e Hospedagem) – Aberto para que os participantes possam trocar informações sobre transporte, hospedagem, organizar caronas e se ajudar na locomoção durante o evento e entre cidades. A organização também poderá compartilhar avisos relevantes sobre deslocamento durante os dias do evento.
Grupo de Informes Gerais – Exclusivo para comunicados oficiais da organização sobre a programação, horários, locais e outras informações importantes do evento. Apenas os organizadores poderão enviar mensagens.
< CLIQUE PARA SABER MAIS
Course | Integrated Solutions for Resilient Cities
8:00 - 12:00
Module 1 | Water Resources Management. Theoretical course will be taught by Amélia Fernandes (IPA); Arisvaldo Mello Jr. (Poli-USP); and Ricardo Hirata (CEPAS|USP-IGc).
13:30 - 18:00
Module 2 | Increasing Water Availability and Treatment. Theoretical course will be taught by Amélia Fernandes (IPA); Arisvaldo Mello Jr. (Poli-USP); and Ricardo Hirata (CEPAS|USP-IGc).
Venue: Unesp Bauru - Sala 1 (Anfiteatro Antônio Manuel dos Santos) | Avenida Engenheiro Luís Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01, Núcleo Residencial Presidente Geisel.
Target Audience: Members of watershed committees and water utility professionals, researchers, postgraduate students, and organized civil society.
Opening & Panel "Water Resources: Dialogues and Governance"
19:00 - 21:30
Opening of the event and round table with local and regional leaders.
Venue: OAB Bauru - Av. Nações Unidas, 30-30 - Vila Nova Cidade Universitária, Bauru - SP, 17010-130.
Target Audience: Political leaders, managers, civil society, and those interested in the topic.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19
THURSDAY, MARCH 20
International Seminar
8:00 - 12:00 | 13:30 - 18:00
International Seminar | Water in Smart Cities
Invited speakers will address the topic of water resources and cities, presenting solution possibilities from local to regional levels, based on their experiences in Brazil and abroad. This activity will be hybrid.
Speakers:
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Philippe Van Cappelen (University of Waterloo, Canada)
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Alberto Manganelli (CeReGAS-UNESCO, Uruguay)
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Uwe Troeger (Technische Universität Berlin, Germany)
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Noemi Vergopolan (Rice University, EUA)
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Edson Wendland (USP)
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Suzana Montenegro (APAC)
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Danilo Rothberg (UNESP)
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Ricardo Hirata (USP)
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José Luiz Albuquerque Filho (IPT)
Venue: Unesp Bauru - Sala 1 (Anfiteatro Antônio Manuel dos Santos) | Avenida Engenheiro Luís Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01, Núcleo Residencial Presidente Geisel.
Target Audience: Professionals in the field, researchers, students, and interested citizens.
FRIDAY, MARCH 21
Course | Integrated Solutions for Resilient Cities (Technical Visit)
8:00 - 12:00 | 13:30 - 18:00
Module 3 - Guided visits to field experiments conducted by SACRE researchers and international guests.
Venue: Route made by bus. Departure location to be defined.
Target Audience: Members of watershed committees, water utility professionals, researchers, postgraduate students, and organized civil society.
SATURDAY, MARCH 22
HidroGeoDia
08:00 - 17:00
HidroGeoDia. Guided tour by hydrogeologists to the main water supply sources in Bauru, discussing their problems and solutions.
Venue: Route made by bus. Departure location to be defined.
Target Audience: Teachers, members of the third sector, citizens interested in the subject.*
São Paulo International Groundwater Week
UNESCO used the slogan "Groundwater: Making the Invisible Visible" in 2022 to draw attention to the disparity between the lack of management and the importance of this resource, which supplies more than 50% of the global population.
While awareness of the topic has grown since this initiative, society, decision-makers, and even researchers still undervalue groundwater. SIPAS creates platforms for sharing knowledge from scientific research, highlighting the importance of dialogue with society.
The event aims to present innovative solutions to water issues in urban and rural settings, primarily to reduce vulnerabilities associated with water crises and climate change. The proposed alternatives are grounded in advanced research bolstered by management practices and citizen involvement. Moreover, researchers, managers, and water utility technicians will participate.
Proposed by the Projeto SACRE | Integrated Water Solutions for Resilient Cities, SIPAS is an initiative organized by the Center for Groundwater Research (CEPAS|USP), Institute of Environmental Research (IPA), Institute of Technological Research (IPT), Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo State University Bauru Campus, Water Institute (University of Waterloo), SPÁguas, Water and Sewage Department of Bauru (DAE), and Bauru City Hall. The event is supported by the Regional Center for Groundwater Management in Latin America and the Caribbean (CeReGas-UNESCO), the UNESCO Guarani Project, the Brazilian Groundwater Association (ABAS), the Brazilian Groundwater Association|Youth (ABAS|Youth), the Tietê-Jacaré Watershed Committee, and the Brazilian Watershed Network (REBOB).
Speakers and Professors
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Ricardo Hirata
Full Professor at the Instituto de Geociências (USP) and former Director of the Groundwater Research Center (CEPAS|USP). Lead Researcher of the SACRE Project - Integrated Water Solutions for Resilient Cities (SACRE|USP|FAPESP) and coordinator for SIPAS - São Paulo International Groundwater Week. Member of the FAPESP Area Coordination. He has served as a visiting professor at the universities of Calgary (Canada) and Costa Rica, as well as as an advisor to the World Bank (GWMATE), UNESCO, WHO/PAHO, and IAEA. He has worked at the Department of Water and Electric Energy (SPÁguas), Institute of Environmental Research (IPA), and the Center for Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS-OPAS/WHO). Throughout his 40-year career, he has worked in over 30 countries in research and government advisory roles. [Currículo Lattes]
Philippe Van Cappellen
Joined the University of Waterloo in 2011 as an inaugural Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC). He rapidly established a world-class research group in Waterloo focussing on the interrelationships between freshwater security, ecosystem health, and human wellbeing. His work transforms Canada’s capacity to respond to current and emerging threats to freshwater resources through converging methods and perspectives from the natural sciences, social sciences, applied health sciences, and engineering. Since 2011, Van Cappellen’s team has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers about water security risks and mitigation in first-tier scientific journals. He has served as the Principal Investigator on multiple projects with a combined budget exceeding US$50 million.
Noemi Vergopolan
Is a computational hydrologist, engineer, and scientist focused on water resources and climate solutions. Her research aims to support actionable decision-making by enhancing hydrological information for monitoring and forecasting hydrological extremes and their impacts on local scales. She is an assistant professor in the Earth, Environment, and Planetary Sciences Department at Rice University. She earned both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Princeton University. In 2022, she received the AGU Science for Solutions Award and the Paul F. Boulos Excellence in Computational Hydrology Award.
Suzana Montenegro
Full Professor and President Director of the Agência Pernambucana de Águas e Clima (APAC), member of the Academia Pernambucana de Engenharia and the Academia Pernambucana de Ciências, Vice-President of the Associação Brasileira de Recursos Hídricos, coordinator of the Câmara Técnica de Planejamento e Articulação, and part of the Conselho Nacional de Recursos Hídricos. She also served on the Environmental Sciences Committee of CNPq, acted as Director of Regulation at APAC, and participated in the Superior Council of FACEPE. She earned her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1997. She completed a Post-Doctorate at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford in 2008 and a senior internship (ESN) at the Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés (LEHNA) at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France in 2015, as well as at the Technische Universität Dresden in Germany in 2018.
Edson Wendland
Full Professor at the School of Engineering at São Carlos (EESC USP), former Director of EESC, and former Coordinator of Science, Technology, and Innovation for the Government of São Paulo. He has served as a professor at Ruhr Universität Bochum, a visiting professor at the University of Applied Sciences Cologne, a full member of the Tietê-Jacaré Watershed Committee, coordinator of the Graduate Program at EESC, Head of the Department of Hydraulics, and Coordinator of the International Specialization Course in Sanitation. He earned a degree in Civil Engineering from UFMG (1986), a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from UFRS (1991), a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Ruhr Universität Bochum (1995), a postdoctoral fellowship in Petroleum Engineering from UNICAMP (2001), and in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Minnesota (2014). [Currículo Lattes]
Alberto Manganelli
Executive Director of the Centro Regional de Gestão das Águas Subterrâneas na América Latina e Caribe da UNESCO (CeReGAS) in Uruguay possesses 30 years of experience working with international organizations, Uruguayan agencies, and private companies. He has served as a professor at the Universidad de la República del Uruguay and played a significant role in the Guarani Aquifer Project (GEF-World Bank, OAS). [Currículo]
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Uwe Troeger
Is a retired full professor at the Technische Universität Berlin (1979), where he also earned his doctorate and completed postdoctoral studies. He possesses extensive experience working in Europe, Africa, and Latin America—with a focus on Brazil—in various fields, including hydrogeology, geochemistry, isotopic hydrology, and the management of surface and groundwater resources. His research in the semiarid regions of North Africa and South America, utilizing remote sensing and isotopes to assess aquifer recharge, is widely recognized.
Arisvaldo Vieira Méllo Júnior
Professor at the Escola Politécnica of the Universidade de São Paulo, he has extensive experience in Water Resources Engineering and Environmental Engineering. His primary focus areas include hydrological modeling, decision support systems, water resources management and planning, watershed management, water allocation, water quality, and systems analysis related to water resources. He earned a degree in Agronomic Engineering from the Universidade Federal de Lavras in 1989 and a Sanitary and Environmental Engineering degree from the Centro Universitário das Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas in 2018. Additionally, he holds a master's degree in Agronomy (Irrigation and Drainage) from Unesp, awarded in 1992, and he completed both a Ph.D. and a postdoctoral fellowship in Water Resources Engineering at the Escola Politécnica of the Universidade de São Paulo in 1996 and 2000, respectively. [Currículo Lattes]
Danilo Rothberg
Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Arts, Communication, and Design at UNESP. Former Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Communication at UNESP, Scientific Director of the National Association of Graduate Studies in Communication, and Member of the Editorial Board of Editora Unesp. He holds postdoctoral fellowships from the Open University (UK) and UFSCar. He has been a visiting researcher at Loughborough University, the University of Warwick, King’s College, the Open University (UK), TU Dortmund (Germany), and Université de Lorraine (France). He has coordinated or supervised over 30 research grants and scholarships awarded by FAPESP, including research projects on Communication and Memory in Water Governance and Adaptation to Climate Change. [Currículo Lattes]
José Luiz Albuquerque Filho
Professor in the Master's Program at CET - Coordenadoria de Ensino Tecnológico do IPT. He has served as Director of the Geology Division, Head of the Applied Geology to the Environment Group, and Head of the Water Resources and Geoenvironmental Assessment Laboratory at IPT. He represents IPT in the Technical Chamber of Groundwater of the São Paulo State Water Resources Council and the Piracicaba, Capivari, and Jundiaí River Basins Committees (State and Federal). He coordinates the Technical Chamber of Groundwater (CT-AS) for the Alto Tietê Watershed Committee (CBH-AT). He is the Technical Agent Interlocutor of IPT in FEHIDRO (State Water Resources Fund). He has coordinated 75 projects, including 14 related to Watershed Plans. He holds a degree in Geology from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco and a Ph.D. from the Instituto de Geociências da UNESP. He is a Hydrogeologist Researcher III in the Territorial Planning, Water Resources, Sanitation, and Forests Section (SPRSF) of the Cities, Infrastructure, and Environment Unit (CIMA) at the Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas do Estado de São Paulo (IPT). [Currículo Lattes]
Amélia Fernandes
Researcher VI at the Institute for Environmental Research (IPA) within the Government of São Paulo. She coordinates the PRO|AQUÍFEROS Program, funded by FAPESP, which aims to train technicians in watershed committees. She earned her degree in Geology from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of São Paulo (IGc-USP, 1985), a master's degree in Geochemistry and Geotectonics (1991), and a Ph.D. in Hydrogeology from the Institute of Geosciences at the University of São Paulo (1997), along with a postdoctoral fellowship from the University of Quebec (Canada). [Currículo Lattes]
Graziele Ruas Lagoas da Silva
Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Faculdade de Engenharia DEC/FEB, UNESP. She has experience in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, focusing on microalgae-based systems for treating domestic and agro-industrial effluents and Water Resources, emphasizing integrated management, environmental and urban planning, and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). She is an Environmental Engineer with a master's degree and Ph.D. in Environmental Technologies from Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), including a sandwich Ph.D. at Universidad de Valladolid (UVa) in Spain (Instituto de Procesos Sostenibles de la Uva - IPS), and has served as a visiting researcher at the same university. [Currículo Lattes]
Organizers
Sponsors
Supporters
Organizing Committee
Ricardo Hirata (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Alexandra Suhogusoff (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Bruno Conicelli (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Carolina Santos (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Daphne Pino (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Fernanda Souto (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Fernando Schuh Rörig (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP | ABAS Jovem)
Lívia de Almeida Freitas (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Mariana Bernardino (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Vinicius Boico ((SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Vinicius Rogel (SACRE | CEPAS | IGc-USP)
Claudia Varnier (IPA, SEMIL)
Luciana Ferreira (IPA, SEMIL)
Danilo Rothberg (Unesp)
Graziele Ruas Lagoas da Silva (Unesp)
Ana Pascucci (Unesp)
Isabela Batistella (Unesp)
Rafael Lledo Ramos (DAE-Bauru)
Renato Macari (DAE-Bauru)
SACRE | SIPAS Team
Ricardo Hirata
Claudia Varnier
Alexandra Suhogusoff
Graziele Ruas Lagoas da Silva
Juliana Freitas
Bruno Conicelli
Reginaldo Antônio Bertolo
José Luiz Albuquerque Filho
Edson Wendland
Fernanda Souto Barreto
Carlos Henrique Gil Marques
Lívia de Almeida Freitas
Fernando Schuh Rörig
Elizabeth Estefanía Naranjo Garófalo
Mariana Bernardino Luiz
Carolina Fernanda dos Santos
Julia Belandrino Rusig
Vinicius Rogel Paulino de Oliveira
Danilo Rothberg
Isabela Batistella
Warlen Librelon de Oilveira
Maria Cristina Oliveira Souza
Vinicius Ferreira Boico
Vinicius Lauriano Ferreira
Tatiana Massaro
Scientific Committee
Suzana Montenegro (IPAC, UFPE)
Edson Wendland (EESC-USP)
Reginaldo Antônio Bertolo (CEPAS, IGc-USP)
Graziele Ruas Lagoas da Silva (Unesp)
Danilo Rothberg (Unesp)
Juliana Freitas (UNIFESP)
Bruno Conicelli (CEPAS|USP, IGc-USP)
Alexandra Suhogusoff (CEPAS, IGc-USP)