AIWW 2021: Meet, mix and match to catalyse blue-green solutions
Coming up soon is the 6th edition of the international conference of the Amsterdam International Water Week. This year's edition offers free online sessions, action orientated roundtables and in-person conference days.
The AIWW-conference will take place from 1 till 5 November and will touch on a wide variety of subjects around the implementation of blue-green solutions to solve global water issues.
Mix of online and live
Initially the organisers of the AIWW-conference set out for two days of online meetings with water professionals to present the latest trends and solutions on this year’s theme: Blue-green deals with integrated solutions. With most of the lockdown restrictions lifted and many people vaccinated, the organisers decided to expand the programme with live meetings.
The overall programme has two online days on 1 and 2 November, and a three-day live conference on 3, 4 and 5 November. The live conference is at the RAI Amsterdam exhibition centre where at the same time the Aquatech Amsterdam trade show takes place.
Additionally, the Integrated Leaders Forum takes place as an invitation-only event.
Social inclusion
On Monday and Tuesday the AIWW-conference will kick off with a wide variety of online sessions on subjects as micro-pollutants, water reuse, irrigation, digitalisation, accelerating climate adaptation, valuing water, financing and partnerships.
One of the sessions (on Tuesday 2 November, 14:00 CET) will be on social inclusion in water management and climate adaptation. Dutch water authorities have an old tradition of involving stakeholders in their water management decision making. Regional water authorities are governed by a democratic elected board that represents farmers, business and local inhabitants. Their interests can conflict and the process of reaching shared decisions is not always easy. This session explores these difficulties with contributions of Dutch and Bangladeshi water professionals who share their lessons learned.
Online opening and closing sessions
The opening session (on Monday 1 November, 9:00 CET) will include Dutch minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Barbara Visser, and Diederik Samsom, head of cabinet for EU commissioner Frans Timmermans. Both will emphasize the importance of Green deals and collaboration amongst stakeholders to get blue-green solutions implemented.
During the closing session (on Tuesday 2 November, 15:15 CET) the winner of the Sarphati Sanitation Challenge will be announced. Five entrepreneurs with commercially viable new sanitation concepts for the poor, have remained in the challenge.
Live conference
The in-person conference (on Wednesday 3 November, 09:00 CET) starts with a keynote by Gesche Grützmacher of Berliner Wasserbetriebe on reuse, recycle and recovery of water. Other keynote speakers will be Emile Cornelissen (KWR) on reuse of industrial water, Ellis Penning (Deltares) on the implementation of nature-based solutions and Jean Pierre Tabuchi (French water utility SIAAP) on ecosystem restoration. Two keynotes by Bart van den Hurk (Deltares) and Henk Ovink (Dutch special water envoy) will address the impacts of climate change and options to reduce risk.
The three-day live conference will also include the Future is Water symposium (on Thursday 4 November, 16:00 CET) where top athletes active in water sports will take the stage to inspire water professionals to make a true impact on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
For all events you need to register. The online part of the programme is free of charge. To join live sessions, there is a fee and the Leaders Forum is on invitation only.
