6th World Water Forum, Marseille, France - March 12-17, 2012
Latest news on the Dutch contribution
WWF6 – Many successful meetings and presentations at Netherlands pavilion
March 17th
The Netherlands pavilion was the base for most of the Dutch experts that attended the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille from March 12-16. Not only the formal Dutch governmental delegation but also the many Dutch experts that attended the forum on their own, used the hospitality of the pavilion to do their business. Many successful meetings and presentations took place at the pavilion.
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• WWF6 – Even Dutch water authorities struggle with seasonal drought
March 16th
"When the Dutch start talking about drought it gets a bite strange. They have plenty of water but it is the quality that is not always available on right time at the right location". With these words George Constantin (middle on photo) of the Romanian ministry of environment and forests started his contribution to the session at the 6th World Water Forum on March 15th, organized by the province of Noord-Brabant. This Dutch province is one of the partners involved in the European WaterCoRe-project. In this project provinces of seven different EU-member states share experiences finding the best solutions to prevent drought. In most cases the drought is seasonal and the measures are aimed at water retention in periods of plenty of water.
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WWF6 – AGT offers Chinese delegation to jointly develop state-of-the-art dike management technology
March 15th
“It is time for Europe and China to jointly develop new technologies for water management related to cities”, said prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange during a meeting marking the launch of the new China Europe Water platform (CEWP). His company AGT Netherlands offers new sensor technology for real-time hydrometric monitoring to predict possible dike failures.“We invite China to cooperate with the European private sector. For urban water management experiences from the past are not sufficient. We need to speed up the process of innovation. Europe and China can work closely together to develop new solutions”, said the prince. AGT Netherlands and research centre TNO are already working on a flood early warning system for Yellow River.
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WWF6 – Preservation of wetlands pays back in supply of food and fresh water
March 15th
Hard water infrastructures get all the votes. Unlike natural infrastructures, like wetlands. There is a worldwide recognition to cherish wetlands because of their rich biodiversity. But only a few countries take the preservation of the special land and water ecosystem to practice. At the session ‘Mind the gap’ at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille on March 14, the organization Wetlands International took the lead in exploring the possibility to move onwards from the lip service to real preservation measures. Good water management can be the key solution as a good water quality makes a wetland an cheap supplier of food and fresh water.
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WWF6 – Delta alliance potential backbone for roadmap to resilient deltas
March 14th
To organize a kind of mechanism for a country to response to the effects of a very gradually changing climate, without overinvesting. That was the ultimate question at the special session on vulnerable delta areas, organized by the Dutch government at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille on March 13. A serious rearrangement of responsibilities is needed to realize such a mechanism in all delta areas but everywhere the circumstances are different. So how can the Netherlands take the lead in developing a mechanism and establish a coalition of all deltas? Two important assets that were discussed during the session were the Deltaprogramma and the network organization Delta Alliance.
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WWF6 – Global water governance hampered by sovereignty
March 14th
The world is moving towards a water crisis, not the quantity is the problem but how the govern the water resources. This brought director András Szöllösi-Nagy of the Unesco-IHE in memory at the session on global water governance the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille on March 13. This was one of the outcomes of the previous forum in Istanbul. Despite numerous initiatives by UN-Water it remains difficult to agree on a global approach for water governance. During the session it proved that sovereignty is the main obstacle. An obstacle that is most manifest when riparian states discuss the up stream and down stream matters of a international river.
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WWF6 – Prince of Orange praises achievement MDG for drinking water
March 13th
During the official opening ceremony of the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille on March 12 the Dutch prince of orange addressed the forum attendees from over 140 different countries about the good news that the UN millennium target drinking water has already been met. As Chair of the UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB) he felt encouraged by the recent news: . “Officially, this is the first MDG target to be achieved by the international community. We should be extremely encouraged by this news. Since 1990, two billion people have gained access to drinking water.”
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WWF6: the Marseille meetings on unprecedented collaboration for safe water access
March 12th
To ramp up access to safe water by low-income communities demands ‘the creation of new industries, rather than the growth of a few organizations’. A recent report by Hystra, a Parisian consultancy, insists that unprecedented collaboration is needed. The report, ‘Access to safe water for the Base of the Pyramid’, released in December, delivers the findings of a multi-player study team on new opportunities for viable business concepts and practice, in mini-grids, household options, kiosk models and rural operations and maintenance services on wells and pumps. The lead author, Hystra, together with other members of the study team, will present the report and discuss its recommendations with participants at two meetings in the heart of the World Water Forum in Marseille next week.
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WWF6: Unique Dutch delta act as solution for climate adaptation
March 8, 2012
Three months ago the Delta Act on Water safety and fresh water supply came into force in the Netherlands. The act is the cornerstone for the Dutch water authorities to anticipate adequately on the expected sea level rise, soil subsidence, drier periods and more extreme rainfall.
During the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France, the delegation from The Netherlands present the Delta Act as an integrated long term solution for flood protection and fresh water supply. The delegation holds a target session on Tuesday March 13 to discuss a roadmap for a sustainable and resilient delta areas.
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6th World Water Forum - Sustainable water solutions: no easy fix
March 8, 2012
‘Time for Solutions’ is the title of the sixth World Water Forum in Marseilles. A programme the Netherlands heartily endorses. Not with quick fixes, but with sustainable, integrated solutions that take into account a region’s needs and circumstances and which merge multiple disciplines. Sustainable water solutions are not always the cheapest, nor are they the most obvious. But they are the most effective.
The Dutch contribution to the forum includes a large pavilion and many experts will share their views and experiences in the panel session.
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The Netherlands pavilion
The Dutch water sector is present at the 6th World Water Forum with a pavilion including the exhibits of many water related organizations.
Click – here – for an overview of the participants.
Input Dutch water expertise
The programme of the 6th WWF consists of over 400 meetings involving many Dutch experts.
Click – here – for an overview of the Dutch participation in the many sessions.
Big challenges - joint solutions - let's work together
Given the complexities of the global water challenges government, business, knowledge institutes and NGOs must join forces. Countries should not face complexities in isolation. Sharing knowledge and experience across sectors and between countries is the best way to create sustainable solutions for the future. That is the underlying idea of the Dutch contribution to the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille.
Sustainable water solutions are always high on the agenda in the Netherlands; on-going development of expertise as it is the key to safety and livability in a low-lying delta. In the coming time, the Netherlands will develop its water expertise around three themes:
- enabling delta life - living and working safely in a densely populated delta
- water for all - clean water and sanitation for all
- more crop per drop - to provide people with food despite water become scare
These three themes will be leading in the contribution to the 6th World Water Forum. In three interview leading Dutch experts give their views on the knowledge and expertise that the Netherlands has to offer.
- The art of Flood protection
interview with deltacommissioner Wim Kuijken - Irrigation beyond technology
interview with IWRM-specialist Koen Roest - The ultimate public-private water supply
interview with VEI-director Gerhard van den Top
Read more: United Dutch Water expertise
