Stockholm World Water Week 2012: Dutch experts focus on global water issues

On Monday August 27 the Stockholm World Water Week 2012 will officially start with a plenary opening session and a high level meeting to discuss this year’s theme ‘water and food’.

Traditionally many Dutch water experts contribute to the programme. Highlights of this year’s Dutch contribution include the discussion on the World Water Day 2013 that will hosted by The Netherlands, recovery of nutrients from waste water, land and water management in delta areas, upscaling of water storages, growing experiences with multiple-use water services

Effects of raising food prices
The High Level Panel at this year's World Water Week in Stockholm, will address ‘The Global Rush for Water and Land’. The meeting will focus on the consequences of the rising food prices for the food production and its water demand.

It seems that water is forgotten in all attempts to guide the international community on how to deal with the crucial issue of land acquisitions.
(all plenary sessions are webcasted live from the SWWW website)

Water demand outpaces supply
The water supply will stabilize and the demand will increase sharply. So if nothing is done, water scarcity will increase the next 20 years. This is predicted by Colin Chartres, director general of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) based in Sri Lanka. His institute will receive the 2012 Stockholm Water Prize.

In this interview IWMI-director Colin Chartres tells about the need for a sustainable agricultural production and the real prizing of water services.

Junior water prize
In 30 countries young water professionals have participated in national competitions with new and practical ideas to improve water quality, water supply, water education and other social aspects.

All finalists will gather in Stockholm where they have to present their idea to a jury of international experts. This jury will announce the overall winner at the Award Ceremony on August 30.

Dutch finalists in Stockholm are Jolet Mimpen and Annelisa Cornel with an idea on a simple desalination device based on evaporation.

Dutch contributions
During the Stockholm World Water Week over 150 seminars, workshops and side events will take place. Below a review of the events with major Dutch and Dutch related contributions.

Monday August 27

UN International Year and World Water Day 2013: Water cooperation
(15:45 - 18:45)
The UN International Year 2013 and the World Water Day, 22 March 2013, will be devoted to the theme of Water Cooperation. The Seminar will officially launch and introduce the preparations for both, the Year and the Day, and will allow participants to exchange their views and perspectives on the essence of water cooperation. The Netherlands will host and co-organize the International celebrations.

Tuesday August 28

Investment options at scale, new directions in water for food
(09:00 - 12:30)
This seminar addresses the need to move ahead from isolated interventions and single investments to comprehensive business models at scale. Professionals are invited to come up with promising solutions and viable ideas in scaling-up and investment options.

Judge us by our outcomes
(14:00 - 17:30)
IRC International Water and Sanitation centre and AKVO will disclose how they monitor and evaluate the impact of water and sanitation projects in order to be able make informed decisions. To succeed the water sector must rethink how it reports - showing funds are spent on lasting outcomes vs. outputs.

Watergrab: the rush for land with water
(17:45 - 18:45)
Wetlands International, Simavi, Rain Foundation and Both Ends will announce the launch of a global study on Water Grabbing: the increasing and often unfair competition for clean, freshwater resources and the impacts on communities and ecosystems. Presentations will feature the global picture, local cases and practical and political solutions, such as 3R - Recharge, Retention and Re-use.

Wednesday August 29

What makes managing water in deltas different?
(09:00 - 12:30)
Seminar organized by the Global Water Partnership and Delta Alliance to explore the common issues of low lying delta areas that are mostly densely populated. Over one third of the world's population lives in deltas, which are therefore hotspots of human activity and for managing water sustainably. Deltas around the world face similar challenges of subsidence, flood risk, salinization and sea level rise. The seminar will promote knowledge sharing among delta countries tackling these issues.

The sanitation chain and profitable links between agriculture and sanitation
(14:00 - 17:30)
This seminar will examine the market potential of nutrients in waste water. Case studies, representing different contexts, will form the base for this interactive seminar.
Earlier on the day the Dutch Nutrient Platform organizes a preparatory meeting for an European conference on Sustainable phosphorus Management. The first outlines of the conference will be discussed, within the context of the European policy for resource efficiency. The prep meeting is one of the actions of the Dutch Phosphate Value Chain Agreement signed in 2011 by 19 organisations and companies to stimulate the reuse of phospate from waste (water) streams.

Thursday August 30

Scaling pathways for multiple-use services, for food security and health
(09:00 - 12:30)
The Multiple-Use Services Group (MUS Group) organized this seminar to address the scaling up of water services. There is a growing body of experience with different scales of water services, leading to a cost-effective way of achieving significant health and livelihoods benefits. However, institutional barriers remain. This session seeks to identify pathways to overcome these to reach the tipping point for scaling up.

Up scaling water storage solutions: the economic potential
(09:00 - 12:30)
This session is organized by Rain Foundation to explore the possibilities of up scaling water storage systems. Storing water in systems, soil and groundwater offers a solution for both water and food security. The challenge is up-scaling economically viable solutions. This practical session will set the arena to discuss the main challenges for the business case of up-scaling 'water storage solutions' for water and food security.

Bridging the knowledge gap: New era of water challenges and new generation of water professionals
(14:00 - 17:30)
Water education institute Unesco-IHE – based in Delft, the Netherlands – organizes a seminar on the need for a new generation of water professionals. The use of blue water for food security has reached its limits. This is an era of new challenges - managing green water at scale, utilizing flood water and excess run off. The range of new challenges and options requires a new thinking by a new generation of water professionals with new passion and excitement.

Daily news reports on this website
A journalist of Dutch water sector.com will report on these events directly from the Stockholm world water week. The first news items can be expected shortly.

More information
Stockholm World Water week 2012
C/o Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
Stockholm, Sweden
www.worldwaterweek.org