2018 Stockholm World Water Week

Sunday, August 26

Small-Scale Irrigation: The answer to ecosystem health?

9:00-10:30, Room NL 357

Small-Scale Irrigation (SSI) is growing rapidly in many parts of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa and has been promoted as farmer-driven, profitable, and climate-smart, with the potential to support millions of rural smallholder farmers. However, the environmental benefits and challenges of SSI have not been well studied and documented. This session will present a series of case studies on SSI and ecosystem health based on work done by researchers from WLE, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, IWMI and IFPRI, supported by USAID, IFAD and the CGIAR. Learn more.

Session PowerPoint slides can be downloaded here.

Investing in freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity: A key development challenge

11:00-12:30, Room FH 300

Conserving biodiversity and freshwater related ecosystem services is essential to help achieve the goals of Agenda 2030, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the SDGs. However, negative impact of development activities on freshwater biodiversity has increased dramatically over the last 40 years. Achieving the SDGs while accounting for the trade-offs apparent in them will require better strategies for managing freshwater systems. Learn more.

Groundwater: Mapping a global story of pollution, scarcity and survival

16:00-17:30, Room NL 461

Groundwater reserves are being polluted, affecting human and environmental health. This session, hosted by Circle of Blue, will explore the policies and laws that allow groundwater to be degraded, the financial cost of treatment, and health consequences, as well as technologies and processes being used to rehabilitate polluted ecosystems. Learn more.

Monday, August 27

Water, biodiversity & development: A magic formula for the SDGs

14:00-15:30, Room NL 357

The breadth of the sustainable development goals demands that collaboration for water, ecosystems and development objectives improves radically. Ensuring this happens will require a paradigm shift in how IWRM performs. This event will challenge both the development and conservation communities to re-think their strategies for freshwater biodiversity conservation and development. Learn more.

Reducing migration: Building water related resilience for rural communities

14:00-15:30, Room FH 202

Migration is increasing as populations seek to move away from water scarce regions towards areas perceived to be more favorable for agriculture and livestock. This session will look at water related interventions for improving the resilience of rural communities that are mostly vulnerable, and discuss interventions for reducing water and food insecurity, thus reducing the urge to migrate. Learn more.

Pathways to increasing farmer-led investments in sustainable agricultural water management in Africa

15:00-15:30, SIWI Sofa

IWMI Director General, Claudia Sadoff will join a SIWI sofa interview to discuss how irrigation could increase agricultural production in Africa, with a focus on small scale innovations. Learn more.

Tuesday, August 28

UN World Water Development Report 2018: Nature-based solutions for water

09:00-10:30, Room FH Congress Hall A

The 2018 edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report aims to encourage policy and decision-makers, inside and outside the water community, to find the most appropriate blend of green and grey investments to maximize benefits and system efficiency while minimizing costs and trade-offs. IWMI researchers have contributed to multiple chapters of the report. 

Water use, food security and disease – achieving healthy outcomes

09:00-10:30, Room NL 461

The relationship between water use and human health has a long history, but the 21st century has seen new interactions between water, food, nutrition and disease. For instance, rural dam building and irrigation schemes in Africa are increasing malaria risks in regions targeted for malaria elimination, while redirection of wastewater into vegetable and livestock production is creating new disease risks in dense urban populations. This session will examine the new interdisciplinary nature of these challenges. Learn more.

Groundwater-based natural infrastructure solutions: The missing link to resilience?

11:00-12:30, Room NL Pillar Hall

This groundwater-based natural infrastructure event will highlight and discuss the role and prospects of solutions that explicitly and actively consider and emphasize groundwater as a natural infrastructure. The session will look at the spectrum of solutions, exemplify novel and innovative approaches that account for sustainability, bankability and affordability, equity in benefits and social acceptance and engagement. Learn more.

See news from the session here. 

Use of big- data for water allocation and water productivity

14:00-14:30, SIWI Sofa

Water scarcity is threatening lives and wellbeing of an increasing number of people. If we want to increase water efficiency, we need to address water use in agriculture. FAO and the Netherlands have developed a Water Productivity database, which helps to monitor agricultural water use and make evidence based decisions. Efficient water use and making the right water allocations needs politicians, experts, local communities and courage to make the right decisions. Joint efforts are key. Julie van der Bliek of IWMI will join the discussion. Learn more.

ASIA Focus: Natural alternatives to water storage

14:00-15:30, Room FH 202

The first of a two part Asia focused event, this session will look at innovative ways that natural infrastructure is being used to meet the growing water demands of  various Asian countries. These innovations are not just technical but also include the use of science accessible to local communities, community management, network building, training and capacity building and influencing large government programs and policies. Learn more.

ASIA Focus: Water sensitive & livable green cities in Asia

16:00-17:30, Room FH 202

Designing water sensitive and livable green cities is about holistic urban planning, innovative resilient environmentally friendly urban architecture and spatial planning, improved water resources management and an introduction to the circular economy cycle. The event will show cases of cities around Asia coping with wastewater, environment degradation, and water-related disaster risks. It will show how each city has managed to include water as a key factor of sustainable, resilient and green urban development, as well as how they have managed to promote the policies and measures to make livable cities restoring water related ecosystem. Learn more.

Wednesday, August 29

Stockholm Water Prize Symposium-Balancing Green and Grey

9:00-12:00, Room NL Pillar Hall

This Symposium celebrates the 2018 Stockholm Water Prize Laureates, Professors Bruce Rittmann and Mark van Loosdrecht. The theme for the 2018 symposium focuses on balancing green and grey infrastructure in water management. IWMI Director General, Claudia Sadoff, will give a keynote. Learn more.

Seminar: Sustainable infrastructure for inclusive green growth

9:00-15:30, Room FH Congress Hall C

This three part seminar will look at the relationship between natural infrastructure and sustainable growth.

Complimentary or Conflicting: Grey vs Green Infrastructure

9:00-10:30: This session will bring together a wide audience to debate the proposition that “Green is the New Grey.” The aim of this session is to set the scene for opportunities and challenges for natural infrastructure vis a vis built infrastructure in the context of sustainable development.

Planning Sustainable Infrastructure for Inclusive Green Growth

11:00-12:30: This session will focus on tools and strategies for planning and managing sustainable infrastructure with case studies from around the world.

The Real World: Opportunities and Constraints of Sustainable Infrastructure

This session will present implementation examples of sustainable infrastructure to solve development problems in rural and urban contexts.

Building watershed resilience and community collaboration under climate change

11:00-12:30, Room NL 357

This session will look at nature-based solutions as a way of building watershed resilience to climate change through multi-functional infrastructure for integrated water resource management. In order to invest in the right natural infrastructure, we need a good understanding of the cause of the problem, what actions are effective, and where they will have the greatest benefit, and how strengthening social resilience may complement investment in infrastructure. Learn more.

ASIA Focus- Tackling the Water-Energy-Ecosystems-Food Nexus

11:00-12:30, Room FH 202

Water, energy, land and ecosystems are essential for satisfying basic human needs and development. However, sector policies regarding water, energy, land and ecosystems have deep and consequential relationships, with policies from one sector causing externalities which impact the others. This session will explore these interactions in Asia. Learn more.

See presentation on Managing Water & Climate Risks in the Himalayan Region.

Asia Water-nomics: More GDP with Less Water & Pollution

14:00-15:30, Room NL 357

Water is essential for human and economic development but Asia's finite water resources are under enormous pressure. Particularly pressing is climate change impacts on the 10 rivers from the Third Pole, which feed 16 countries. This session will look at the economics of water and integrating water into economic planning. Learn more.

Water for Well-being: From Framework to Action

16:00-17:30, Room NL Auditorium

The objective of the session is to stimulate debate and shape dialogue around the linkages between water, food security and nutrition, and share experience of ways to effectively address these challenges from a sectoral and multi-sectoral perspective. Learn more.

Share, conserve, develop! Balancing it all in transboundary basins?

16:00-17:30, Room FH 202

Water cooperation mechanisms have moved beyond the purview of state diplomatic offices to operate at multiple levels of governance that involve local to intergovernmental basin stakeholders. Through innovative engagement tools, planning processes that include stakeholders from a variety of sectors, such as agriculture and energy, are laying the foundations for new paradigms in basin planning. This session will look at examples to show how these efforts are faring in practice. Learn more.

Efficiency, sufficiency, sustainability: Allocation in river basins

16:00-17:30, Room NL 357

Water (re)allocation is a major water policy challenge. River basins hosting large irrigation systems are at risk from patterns of water consumption affecting the hidden, inflexible and often informal allocation of water from agriculture to other sectors including ecosystems. Such basins are particularly difficult to manage in terms of equitable and transparent water allocation with hydrological and geographical factors and legacy infrastructure, combined with institutions favoring a form of lock-in. Learn more.

Thursday, August 30

Political drivers for sustainable ecosystems: Understanding peace

09:00-10:30, Room FH 307

A new form of geopolitics embracing cooperative solutions for ecosystem and freshwater distribution management is essential. Environmental consequences, high-value ecosystems, and sustainability security are often hidden from view of global politics. This session draws attention to the political economy benefits of resolving ecosystem challenges through progressing the SDG 6 debate - freshwater ecosystems are essential to human health, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity – and the security implications of escalating resource use. Learn more.

Ecosystem based water management: From innovation to practice

09.00-10.30 | Room: FH Congress Hall A

Much learning has been generated in recent years about ecosystems-based water management, but is it reaching the right audiences at a meaningful scale? Theorists and researchers need to learn from practitioners and vice versa; policy makers need to incorporate knowledge gained on the ground into their policy and leadership processes. With active participation from these different groups, the seminar will identify pathways to address barriers to uptake through partnerships, guidance and tool development, case studies, collaborative research and more. Learn more.

The Global Framework for Water Scarcity in Agriculture : Achievements

14:00-15:30, Room FH Cabaret

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. Each working group will report on the progress to date, including project proposals under development and the expected deliverables within the period of its 2-year work plan. Learn more.

Book Launch: Business Models for Resource Recovery and Reuse

17:00-17:45, Room NL 253

With rapid increases in urban population and consumption per capita threatenint to stretch the planet’s capacity to sustain growth beyond its limits, a paradigm shift from waste ‘treatment for disposal’ to ‘treatment for reuse’ is imperative. This book shows how nutrients, energy and water can be recovered from waste to avoid unregulated disposal, while capturing the economic value associated with reuse to ensure a sustainable sanitation chain and healthy urban ecosystem. Learn more.