The symposium is jointly convened by the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), AU/NEPAD Southern African Network of Water Centres of Excellence (AU/NEPAD SANWATCE), and the Local Organizing Committee led by the North-West University, South Africa with support from the Government of South Africa.
The Symposium is part of the annual Symposia held in the Eastern and Southern African regions for the past 22 years to promote interaction among policymakers, academics, practitioners from water and related sectors, and cooperating partners. Together, they identify regional issues, gaps and priorities that require further research and support. Great emphasis will be placed on the integration of knowledge, particularly involving scholars from the natural and social sciences.
Policymakers, academics, practitioners from water and related sectors, and cooperating partners are invited to register for and attend the symposium and make use of this opportunity to debate findings from presentations focused on the different sub-themes. Authors with accepted abstracts should now submit their full papers targeting the sub-themes below:
- Innovative approaches, practices and technologies for affordable water supply, and sanitation services
- Water governance for sustainable, equitable and affordable water services
- Water, Land, Energy and Agriculture
- Changing hydro-climatic regimes and planning tools for climate-resilient development pathways
- Water, Ecosystems, and the Environment
- Post COVID-19 resilience and sustainability of the water and sanitation sector
GWPSA sessions at the Symposium
As part of its knowledge and learning exchanges at international conferences and workshops, Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA) will be co-convening two transboundary water management sessions at the symposium under the BUPUSA and Lesotho ICM project / ReNOKA Programme.
BUPUSA session: Data and Decision-Making in Transboundary Waters Date : Thursday, 20 October 2022 Time: 16:00-17:45 hours (GMT+2) Venue: Seers Court 2
The session will be convened by GWPSA in collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Oregon State University (OSU) to explore how data supports and/or interferes with decision-making, including themes of determining how much data is needed, overcoming challenges with data availability, and establishing mutual trust in the quality of data.
The session will be a knowledge exchange and experience-sharing platform for projects and programmes. Stakeholders will also share lessons learnt and challenges faced in similar projects in the region, while the capacities of participants will be strengthened. The session, which is set to build capacities and networks of participants, will culminate in a paper on data decision-making in transboundary waters.
The session, centred on the Buzi, Pungwe, and Save (BuPuSa) basins, will include other key Institutions involved in the implementation of the Management of Competing Water Uses and Associated Ecosystems in Pungwe, Buzi, and Save Basins Project. These include DNGRH, Department responsible for Water Resources in Zimbabwe, ARA-Centro, ARA-Sul, ZINWA Save, and ZINWA Runde.
Follow this link to join the session online and for more information.
Lesotho ICM/ ReNOKA SESSION: Emergency measures and the operationalization of the compendium of soil and water management measures for Lesotho; protecting the headwaters of the Orange-Senqu River basin.
Date : Friday, 21 October 2022 Time: 08:00-10:00 hours (GMT+2) Venue: King Boardroom 2
The session is set to promote the ReNOKA visioning and scaling ingredients for ICM innovations, technologies, approaches, and best practices that aid in the reduction of land degradation and soil erosion; sustainable land and water management; and contributions to resilience to climate change impacts.
GWPSA Project Manager for the Lesotho ICM Dr Koetlisi unpacks the compendium of soil and water management measures for Lesotho during a visit to Puete wetland inMakhalaneng catchment, one of the ICM project sites.
The session aligned to the subtheme on Water, Ecosystems, and the Environment will discuss among other issues emergency measures in the sub-catchments as well as the impact of investment climate analysis, resource mobilization and learning journeys on the betterment of livelihoods and ecosystems.
Follow this link to join the session online and for more information
The Management of Competing Water Uses and Associated Ecosystems in Pungwe, Buzi, and Save Basins project, is being implemented in the Buzi Pungwe and Save river basins over four years from 2021 to 2024 with funding from the GEF. It is being implemented by the IUCN, with GWPSA as the bilateral executing partner at the regional level. The Ministry of Public Works, Housing, and Water Resources and Administração Regional de Águas - Centro (ARA-Centro, IP) in Mozambique and the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Resettlement; and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) in Zimbabwe are executing the project at national levels.
ReNOKA (‘we are a river’) is a national programme and citizen movement for the restoration of land and water in Lesotho and the Orange-Senqu basin. Support for ReNOKA is provided through a partnership between the Government of Lesotho, the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The EU and BMZ contributions are implemented through a technical assistance project “Support to Integrated Catchment Management in Lesotho” by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in partnership with GWPSA.
More information on the symposium is found on the Second Call for Full Papers and the event web page. Kindly visit the registration page to join the symposium online.
Cover photo credits: safari.com