The theme for 2018 is “Water, ecosystems and human development”.
Since 1991, World Water Week has been a meeting place for scientists, policy makers, and private sector and civil society actors to network, exchange ideas and foster new thinking around the most pressing water-related challenges of today. Its aim is to inspire collaborative action and bridge science, policy and practice.
Full details are available on the WWW website.
GWP at WWW
GWP will have a strong presence at WWW 2018 throughout the week. GWP’s booth will be all about personal and digital interaction with our visitors. We will have a daily theme, such as:
- The #ActOnSDG6 campaign – where we call for decision makers to ensure that water management actions are integrated across sectors, and that investments in water are both increased and sustainable.
- Youth for Water & Climate: Become a supporter – the website will be showcased and visitors encouraged to sign up as supporters. On Wednesday 29 August, there is also a whole day decidated to youth in a separate booth in the Norra Latin (NL) building. Detailed programme here.
- The GWP/WMO Drought HelpDesk will be showcased.
On Monday 27 August we invite those interested in GWP's to a reception at the booth from 17.15 local time until 18.00. Come and meet with our key people and get answers to your questions!
Sessions with GWP
A selection of the sessions that GWP's representatives are involved in, or participating in, during the week:
Sunday 26 August: "Ecosystems in an urbanizing world: Challenges and opportunities for symbiosis". In 2014, 54% of the world’s population lived in cities – a proportion that is expected to rise to 70% by 2050. Urbanisation pose serious challenges to ecosystem health and human well-being. Traditional approaches have proven insufficient in response to major demographic trends and in times of uncertainty and increasing vulnerability, the development of an urban ecosystem approach is crucial. Beyond Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM), other ways to achieve sustainable urban development can be working with nature to comprehensively reshape and retrofit urban areas. This event will go on throughout the day in three separate sessions exploring different aspects of urban water governance.
Monday 27 August: "Reducing Migration: Building Water Related Resilience for Rural Communities". Because of the threat to food security and vulnerability resulting from water scarcity in certain parts of the world, there is an increasing tendency to migration. Populations seek to move away from water scarce regions towards areas perceived to be more favorable for agriculture and livestock. The pattern of migration caused by water scarcity can be seasonal or permanent, and within or outside a country, across regions and continents. This event will bring together several partners to discuss opportunities that water related interventions offer to improve the resilience of rural communities that are mostly vulnerable and exposed to migration.
Tuesday 28 August: "Changing minds on drought management – the economic case". This event tackles the paradox that if proactive drought risk management is socially and economically optimal compared with reactive crisis management, why is the shift from crisis to risk management for droughts happening so slowly and how can we change this?
"MENA Focus - Benefits for ecosystems and wetlands through the nexus". This event will take stock of the needs, challenges, regional initiatives and best practices in the Mediterranean region regarding the sustainable management of wetlands mainly through the Nexus approach.
"IWRM and ecosystem based approaches: Complementary, duplicating or competing?". Water plays multiple roles in ecosystems and society. Yet, the dependency of human wellbeing on ecosystems has been given insufficient attention where narrow economic pursuits have been given priority over environmental concerns. Through integrated water resources management (IWRM), managers and stakeholders deal with the complex task of securing water for people, industry, food production, navigation, hydropower and the environment. Welcome to join our seminar at Stockholm World Water Week!
"Water sensitive & livable green cities in Asia". Designing water sensitive and livable green cities is about making strides toward eco-friendliness, holistic urban planning, innovative resilient environmentally friendly urban architecture and spatial planning, improved water resources management, introduction to the circular economy cycle, and helping residents to live better. The event will discuss practices coming from Australia, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
"SDG 6.5 on IWRM: From status to accelerated implementation". This session will present the key findings and recommendations of the baseline surveys for SDG indicators 6.5.1 and 6.5.2 from 2017/2018.
Wednesday 29 August: "ASIA Focus- Innovative Financing to Protect Ecosystems in Asia". Over the past few years various attempts have been made in Asia to develop methods, processes and products to increase investments in ecosystems as a long term measure to maintain water environment healthier. This has not been an easy passage because such investments are for the long term and the difficulties to show the effectiveness of projects superseded more tangible benefits in the short term. Panel discussions and a dialogue with the audience on this topic.
Youth for Water and Climate #YWC day at the Young Professionals booth (MV1): "Be Bold. Be Creative. Get support." Stop by the booth to discover youth projects from around the world and meet the YWC partners. There will be a youth market place and Quality Assurance lab, as well as a special announcement. The YWC platform will also be presented: www.youthwaterclimate.org
Thursday 30 August: "The global Water Convention: an opportunity for transboundary water cooperation". This event will discuss opportunities linked to the globalisation of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention).
"Water and Faith: Acting in Partnership to achieve SDG 6". This event will begin with a panel of high-level faith leaders active in championing wise water management towards SDG 6. Interventions will be followed by an ignite speech from a leading UN representative sharing experience on fostering linkages around SDG 6 and faith based communities.
"The Global Framework for Water Scarcity in Agriculture : Achievements". Launched at the UNFCCC’s CO23, The Global Framework on Water Scarcity in Agriculture (WASAG) in a changing climate has since turned into an active partnership with more than 50 members and a functional governance structure. This event is a further opportunity for engaging with partners and stakeholders to receive additional contributions on WASAG’s activities.