Free Flow

[

] 310

nternational

ooperation

ater

ciences

and

esearch

A platform for exchange: the World Water Congress

Important water events take place regularly at the global level, develop-

ing international exchanges and cooperation among water experts from

various regions. Major water events provide a forum and important

opportunity for water experts from around the world to meet, exchange

and establish links with each other. Such events play a role in devel-

oping cooperation on sciences and research. Usually these events are

organized around a specific theme related to water resources.

Since 1973, long before the first WorldWater Forum (WWF), IWRA

has held a World Water Congress (WWC) every three years in various

locations. The objective of the WWC is to provide a meeting place to

share experiences, promote discussion and present new knowledge,

research results and developments in the field of water sciences around

the world. For over four decades, the WWC has been a major player

in the identification of global themes and emerging trends concerning

the water agenda. It does so by bringing together a large cross-section

of stakeholders for the development and implementation of decisions

in the field of water.

For instance the theme of the 14th WWC held at Porto de Galinhas

in Brazil was ‘Adaptive water management, looking to the future’. The

next WWC, which will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2015, will

focus on ‘Global Water, a Resource for Development’, and will seek to

explore global water as a resource for economic, social and environ-

mental development. Water management has often been considered

as an end in itself, and not as a means to an end and an opportunity

to achieve overall development, economic prosperity, improvement of

quality of life and environmental conservation. The idea is to effectively

bring attention to the importance of water as an essential ingredient for

development. The scientific programme in such forums allows pres-

entations, discussions and exchanges among water experts on specific

issues. These events contribute to the identification of major global

themes concerning the water agenda. They foster proactive partner-

ships and alliances between individuals and organizations

from different fields of expertise and they are the place

for communicating the latest research, best practices and

innovative policy work by stakeholders and experts from

multiple water-related disciplines. The events contribute

towards IWRA’s objective to lead and influence water

policy and governance.

It is also important to mention the WWF which, since

1997, has grown to become the largest international

event in the field of water with about 30,000 partici-

pants from more than 190 countries. The resolution

to create the convener of the WWF, the World Water

Council, was itself taken during IWRA’s 8th WWC

in Cairo, Egypt in 1994. This is another example of

IWRA’s potential influence at the policy level. IWRA is

currently a member of the World Water Council’s Board

of Governors and contributes regularly to the WWF.

Cooperation with international organizations

IWRA is a partner of UN Water, which is the United

Nations mechanism for strengthening coordination and

coherence amongst UN entities regarding all freshwa-

ter and sanitation related issues. IWRA is developing

cooperation with such organizations and brings in its

expertise and knowledge on water-related issues. In this

frame, IWRA is undertaking two projects in partnership

with other major international water organizations.

The first project seeks to strengthen the interna-

tional interface between science and policy in the

field of water, in partnership with UNESCO’s IHP

and the French National Office for Water and Aquatic

Environments. The science-policy interface is already

a priority of IWRA, and over the 2013-2015 period,

IWRA will be making it a core strategic priority. To

achieve this, it will strengthen several key tools.

IWRA will continue to maintain and strengthen

WI and extend the impact of this publication.

Multiple special editions of WI and books will also

be published on various different policy-related

themes in partnership with major international

organizations. In addition, IWRA will increase its

engagement with different media (traditional, social

and professional) and through its newsletters. It will

also commence a project to create an academy for

water journalists in partnership with OOSKAnews,

in order to increase scientific quality and to raise the

quality and profile of water journalism.

The second project is aimed at developing an

international reference on water quality guidelines

for different water uses within the framework of the

United Nations Water Thematic Priority Areas. For

example, within the framework of the priority area on

water quality and the WWF process, IWRA has made

a commitment to establish a comprehensive global

compendium on water quality, destined to become a

worldwide reference.

Since its establishment, IWRA has consistently used all

the avenues that are available to it to promote generation,

synthesis, application and dissemination of knowledge.

IWRA projects include developing an international reference on water quality

guidelines for different water uses

Image: Stephan