International Hydrological Programme

    Philippe Pypaert

    Philippe Pypaert

    Philippe Pypaert was born in Ath, Belgium, in 1962. He graduated as an agricultural engineer from the Faculty of Agronomy, Gembloux (Belgium), with a specialization in rural economy and sociology. Between 1987 and 1991, he pursued a doctorate (PhD) in environmental sciences on the subject of 'environmental planning and methodology on a local and regional scale' at the Luxemburg University Foundation, Arlon (Belgium), and obtained a PhD in Environmental Science in November 2003. His major specializations are on environmental studies, environmental information systems, territorial planning and rural sociology.


    From 1987 to 1991, during his PhD research at the Luxemburg University Foundation (Arlon - Belgium), he participated in the development of a Territorial Information System applied to territorial planning of rural communities, in collaboration with ENSAS s.a. (IBM Associate, Belgium), specializing in informatics and digital mapping.


    Between 1990 and 1993, he worked in Italy as a consultant for several companies. From 1993 to 1994 he worked for TECHNITAL S.p.A. (Verona, Italy) as a specialist in territorial and environmental information systems and GIS applications; within the context of the numerous interrelated studies and projects of the Venice flood prevention scheme. He was directly involved in the general preliminary design of the interventions to reverse the degradation processes of the lagoon environment, and in the design of an operative Decisional Support System for the management of the Venetian coastal area.


    He joined UNESCO, at its Venice Office, in November 1994, where he has been acting, since then, as a Programme Specialist in Environmental Sciences. He is also acting, since 1998, as the UNESCO Regional Hydrologist for Europe. During these years, he co-ordinated regional activities related to some of the major environmental programmes of UNESCO, such as MAB, IHP and CSI. As Project Officer, he also coordinated the implementation of extrabudgetary projects funded by the Italian government concerning Venice and its lagoon (1994-2000), the Adriatic Sea Environmental Master Plan (2004-2006) and Environmental Education for Sustainable Development in South-Eastern Europe (2004-2007).