The aim of the gathering was to identify the main problems in urban water management in the Americas, share progress towards their solution, outline strategies to replicate specific solutions in other countries and to contribute to the development of public policies by strengthening the dialogue between the academies, the government and private institutions.
Work was carried out in three specific instances. The first one was the countries’ presentation of their situation in terms of water management in urban areas. The participating countries were Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, United States, Cuba, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela.
The second instance consisted of the knowledge exchange and discussion on water management in urban and rural areas between researchers from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) and representatives of the academies of sciences of the Americas (North America, Central America and the Caribbean, and South America).
In the last one, a dialogue took place between representatives of the academies and authorities of the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (MINAM), the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation (including the National Water Authority), as well as GWP Peru.
The exchange focused on the contribution of science to the development of public policies. Progress on the urban water cycle, innovations in urban water treatment and the impacts of climate change on water access in cities and waterborne diseases were discussed.
In addition, during the meeting days, advances in the management and treatment of urban water were shared, as well as practical cases from Argentina, Colombia, Nicaragua and Peru, among others.
Photo: Some of the meeting participants