Biography:

Professor Salah Arafa is a tenured faculty member at the Physics Department, School of Sciences and Engineering at The American University in Cairo (AUC).
He joined the AUC in 1968. Before joining the university, he worked as a physics researcher at the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority from 1962 till 1968. Dr. Arafa holds a BSc in Physics and Chemistry (1962), an MSc in Nuclear Physics (1966), and a PhD in Solid State Physics (1969), all from the Cairo University. He was the Chair of the Science Department twice and served as Senator-at-large at the University Senate.
Professor Arafa is well-known as one of the leading social entrepreneurs in Egypt and the Arab World. He was selected as a Senior Ashoka Fellow in 2004 and was awarded 'Man of the Year' for Environment and Development in 2009. Since 1974, Arafa has been involved in many Civil Society activities and is today the chairman of a few of the leading NGOs in Egypt. He has also served as a consultant to many international organizations, including US-AID, UNICEF, GTZ, EU, and UNDP. He is a member of the National Committee onClimate Change and is also a member of the Research Council on Environment and Development at the Egyptian Academy for Scientific Research and Technology.

Prof. Arafa has written more than 50 scholarly papers, 10 chapters in books, and appeared on various TV programs.

Abstract:

"Energy, Water, Food, Climate Change, and Future Challenges"

Depletion of fossil fuels is unavoidable because of the existing unbalance between consumption and production of resources. Population increase and demands for development can't be satisfied by the existing resource constraints. The necessity to face the negative impacts of climate change on water, food, and health are the biggest challenges facing humanity.
New and renewable energy resources represent our hope to face such impacts and to deal with the present constraints. What is needed is an intelligent mix and some behavioral changes in human activities for a creative balance between consumption and production and for sustainability.
Both formal and informal education and training should be employed, and target groups are several: School and university students, politicians and decision makers, media people, industrial leaders, formal and informal leaders, and teachers, to name the most obvious ones.
Also appropriate policies and financing approaches are needed to encourage citizens to conserve energies and use renewable energies.

The presentation will give examples of a number of activities and two case studies (Basaisa Village in Sharkiya Governorate and New Basaisa in South Sinai Governorate) that I have been engaged in over the past 40 years, as well as present activities.