FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 10, 2011

The Cambridge Climate Change Week gets under way this Friday, May 13, 2011, with the showing of an award-winning documentary about a water war in Michigan and a presentation by an international human-rights activist on worldwide water conflicts.

"The Water Front," a 2010 documentary that chronicles a tumultuous water battle in Highland Park, Michigan, from an environmental-justice perspective, will be featured at a special community event at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 3 Church Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass. The film paints a portrait of a community in crisis as it deals with outdated water systems and increasingly complex issues such as water shortages and implications of the bottled water industry, among other troubling issues.

The screening will be followed by a presentation and discussion led by Patricia Jones, an internationally recognized expert on the human right to water and the program manager for environmental justice with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an international human-rights organization based in Cambridge.

The screening and presentation, which begins at 6 p.m., is free and open to the public.

Jones will talk about the international water crisis and the growing worldwide movement to establish human-right-to-water policies at the local, state and national levels. She will discuss how these campaigns are driving the efforts to ensure all individuals have access to safe, affordable water. She recently accompanied the United Nations independent expert for human rights on a national visit to explore water issues in the United States.

"Our ecosystems and communities are facing challenges with diminished resources, climate change, and lack of access to safe, affordable water," said Jones. "People around the world and at home are fostering justice by working with each other and for water—creating community and hope, saving lives, and changing our tomorrows."

Before joining UUSC, Patricia was a researcher working with international donor agencies and governments on legal tools for resolving conflicts over trans-boundary water resources. She has published reports in her field of international water law.

The kickoff event launches the Climate Change Week, proclaimed by the Cambridge City Council, that includes a series of activities initiated by the Cambridge Climate Emergency Action Group and running from Friday, May 13, to Saturday, May 21.

For a full schedule of Climate Change Week activities, visit www.cceag.org/climateweekevents. For more information about the documentary film “The Water Front,” visit www.waterfrontmovie.com. For more information about UUSC, see www.uusc.org.

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