Events Upcoming Events Expo Zaragoza 2008 14 June–14 September 2008, Zaragoza, Spain The general theme «Water and Sustainable Development» is developed and organised into three sub-themes to facilitate its interpretation and to guide the participation of the countries taking part in the Exposition: (1) Water, a unique resource, (2) Water for life, (3) Waterscapes. A fourth sub-theme running throughout, which is particularly relevant considering the fact that an International Exposition is an appropriate event to deal with issues affecting the whole planet: (4) Water, a common element between peoples. These sub-themes will be positioned in the form of three themed pavilions in Expo Zaragoza 2008. Expo Zaragoza 2008 completes its theme with an intellectual tool for debate, the pooling of innovative experiences and a commitment to the future. The Water Platform has been conceived as a centre for knowledge, debate and experiences in order to contribute to the reorientation and improvement of current models and systems concerning water and sustainable development for the 21st century. >> Expo Zaragoza 2008 website Groundwater & Climate in Africa—an international conference 24–28 June 2008, Kampala, Uganda Current monitoring and assessments of the impacts of climate variability and change on water resources commonly exclude groundwater. This omission is of particular concern in Africa where current usage and future adaptations in response to climate change and rapid population growth place considerable reliance upon groundwater to meet domestic, agricultural, and industrial water demands. The conference seeks to bring together water and climate scientists from research/academic institutions, government departments, and private sector as well as representatives from international agencies, donors and consortia in order to share knowledge and expertise, and thereby improve current understanding of the impact of climate and development on groundwater resources in Africa. >> Conference website World Water Week 17–23 August 2008, Stockholm, Sweden The 2008 World Water Week in Stockholm will be held in the Stockholm International Fairs and Congress Center. The World Water Week in Stockholm promotes the exchange of views and experiences between the scientific, business, policy and civil society communities, thereby advancing the water, environment, health, livelihood and poverty reduction agendas. As an annual platform, and in every respect, the World Water Week highlights concrete work that matters for the poor, for the environment and for our shared future. >> World Water Week website 13th IWRA World Water Congress 1–4 September 2008, Montpellier, France «Global Changes and Water Resources: confronting the expanding and diversifying pressures» The objective of the XIIIth World Water Congress is to enhance the world’s knowledge and raise global consciousness of the impact of global changes on water resources. The Congress will bring together wide-interest participation, exhibitions and scientific communications about our planet’s water resources. This Congress will represent an important global meeting point for open dialogue between public and private partners, between users and decision makers and between developing, emerging and developed countries. In order to contribute to this global reflection and action, the Congress will organise numerous debates, presentations and exhibitions among key water stakeholders. >> IWRA World Water Congress website Water Scarcity, Global Changes, and Groundwater Management Response – International conference 1-6 December 2008, University of California, Irvine, United States It is estimated that, within 25 years, twothirds of the world’s inhabitants will live in countries with serious water problems. Inventive approaches and innovative technologies have to be developed to call for every possible water resource. It has become evident that groundwater is one of the most important natural resources, being the sole resource for some countries, and the main basis of irrigation worldwide, with more than onethird of the landmass irrigated by groundwater, and the main source of drinking water for a number of countries. Amongst the foreseen outcomes: a policy proposal and an action plan for a concrete and practical follow-up to the proposed conference and, also, to contribute to the IHP-VII, UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme Seventh Phase (2008-2013), and prepare for the 5th World Water Forum (Istanbul, Turkey, March 2009).  Conference announcement [PDF, 471 kbyte] 5th World Water Forum 15–22 March 2009, Istanbul, Turkey ‘Bridging Divides for Water’ will be the theme of this Forum. The World Water Forum, which is organized by the World Water Council every three years in collaboration with the authorities of the host country, is the largest international event in the field of water. >> 5th World Water Forum website   Past Events United Nations Climate Change Conference — Conference of the Parties (COP 13) and Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 3) 3–14 December 2007, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. The CPWC actively participates in events in the run-up to COP13, like the Joint Workshop in Jakarta in May 2007. It will look for possibilities to address the issue of climate adaptation and the co-operation between Water and Climate stakeholders during this conference. More information will follow. >> UNFCCC website CAIWA 2007 International Conference on Adaptive & Integrated Water Management — Coping with complexitiy and uncertainty 12–15 November 2007, Basel, Switzerland The Conference will bring together scientists from academia, industry, and policy making/government to analyse progress, to explore new research directions and highlight policy implications of scientific findings. It will focus on basic research findings across all sectors of adaptive and integrated water resources management. Furthermore it will share the major insights from the NeWater project with the wider scientific community and embed it into the current scientific debate in all relevant themes. >> Conference website European Water Management and Climate Change 3rd European Water Association (EWA) Brussels Conference 5 November 2007, Brussels, Belgium The 3rd EWA Brussels Conference will bring together experts and opinion formers from throughout the European Union to discuss Climate Change, its impact on the water sector and the mitigation and adaptation measures that can be adopted. The conference will outline the latest scientific knowledge and update the delegates on policy measures being developed by the European Commission. The day will conclude with a presentation on the EWA response to the EU Green Paper and a panel discussion with all the day's speakers. Besides updating attendees on the latest scientific knowledge on Climate Change following production of the IPCC reports; the conference will outline the policy development within the European Commission following the issuing of the Green Paper on Climate Change and Adaptation.  Conference announcement [PDF, 316 kbyte] Risks of climate change to water management and utilities – from impact analysis to adaptation 5 October 2007, Amsterdam, The Netherlands The focus of this seminar will be on coping mechanisms in policy and strategy development as well as in operations. Managing water resources under changing hydrological conditions poses a new challenge to water professionals. The assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that global warming has already affected hydrological and biological systems. Obvious impacts are an increased risk of flooding, increased intensity of extreme weather events and decreased water availability in many water-scarce regions. These impacts will directly or indirectly affect both water resources and water supplies. IWA has an active interest in Water and Climate. Recent meetings addressed a wide ranging agenda of climate related issues for utilities, governments and water boards including: 1. The impact of climate change on water resources (quantity and quality); 2. Vulnerability assessments of utilities to changes in climate; 3. Example of coping mechanisms and adaptive strategies. Based on the IWA conferences and a survey among the Specialist Group’s members the management committee of the Specialist Group has drafted a Position Paper for Water and Climate. The seminar will offer an attractive mix of presentations by water and climate specialists. Also the draft Position Paper will be presented. There will be ample time to discuss the draft and follow-up activities.  Conference announcement [PDF, 187 kbyte] Climate changes spatial planning 12–13 September 2007, The Hague, The Netherlands In 2004, a unique and ambitious research programme started in The Netherlands, called “Climate changes Spatial Planning”. A budget of 80 million Euro has been made available, jointly by government and stakeholders on a 50/50 basis. The programme includes basic research to improve climate models and climate scenarios, as well as strategies for adaptation and land use related mitigation. The five themes of the programme are: climate scenarios; (land-use related) mitigation; adaptation; integration and communication. Many disciplines cooperate in multidisciplinary projects, as well as in disciplinary, integrative projects. The programme introduced the concept of climate proofing and it has successfully triggered a nation-wide debate on climate adaptation. This debate has led to the development of a national wide policy plan on climate adaptation and additional funding for a more design oriented research programme on adaptation and planning, to start in 2008. This conference will contribute to the current European and international science and policy debate on adaptation to climate change and will draw the intermediate balance sheet of the Programme. >> Conference website World Water Week 2007- Progress and Prospects on Water: Striving for Sustainability in a Changing World  12–18 August 2007, Stockholm, Sweden The World Water Week in Stockholm is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development. Water and Climate will be a central theme during the World Water Week in Stockholm, especially on 15 August 2007! >> Up-to-date information Joint Workshop on Water and Climate Indonesia 23-24 May 2007, Jakarta Indonesia Within the framework of the Four-Party Memorandum of Understanding between Dutch and Indonesian ministries of Public Works & Water and the ministries of Environment, The CPWC co-organizes an international workshop on Water and Climate. For more information click here NBCBN Kick Off Workshop 5-7 March 2007, Cairo, Egypt  NBCBN stands for Nile Basin Capacity Building Network for River Engineering. In Caïro, a kick off workshop was organised to discuss and approve research proposals for the six clusters (hydropower, GIS, EIS, floods, river morphology and river structures) of the NBCBN and to initiate proposals for the cross cutting clusters "Water and Climate" and "Water Scarcity". The CPWC gave a presentation on Water and Climate and facilitated the working group on Waster and Climate. Some 20 participants from all Nile Basin countries participated actively in the working group. About 10 researchers joined the corss cutting cluster as member. These members will work on the development of a proposal to be submitted to potential financiers later in 2007. The cross cutting cluster is led by the Cluster Coordinator, Mohamed Elshamy Group Coordinator (Nile Forecasting Centre, Egypt). Dr. Fulco Ludwig (CPWC) is contact person on UNESCO-IHE/CPWC side. For more information on the proposal please contact Fulco Ludwig For the NBCBN website click here Global Challenge, Global Climate Solidarity - Climate Change and Vulnerability Conference, 13-14 February 2007, The Hague, Netherlands This conference addressed the need to build capacities for proactive local leadership to address the risks of climate warming, particularly in vulnerable island and coastal states. The goals of the conference were to Increase understandings of the risks of climate change and options for adaptation; Design university curricula that build climate leadership and foster local adaptation; Develop partnerships among education, research and training institutions. The CPWC has assisted by arranging a field trip to the Dutch Delta, mediate for Dutch key-note speakers and help reporting the sessions. For the programme click here to visit the conference website click here Aquaterra, World Forum on Delta & Coastal Development 7-8-9 February 2007, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Aquaterra aimed at providing solutions for everyone involved in thecomplex field of coastal defence. It included a complete range of subjects aimed at providing practical solutions and applications. Provided by leading research and engineering expertise and technology developments. It brought together for the first time some of the world’s most important decision makers in water management, coastal and delta development. The CPWC was on the advisory board to facilitate a good representation of the climate change issue within this context. to visit the conference website click here Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change: Towards a Strategic Approach” 7-8 December 2006, New Delhi, India This event was in response to an increasing recognition by India and the international community that there are significant implications of climate variability and climate change on human and natural systems, including agriculture, water, forestry, health, industry and energy sectors. Therefore, adaptation to increased climate variability and climate change remains a crucial response strategy with a potential to reduce the adverse effects of increased climate risk. Fulco Ludwig for the CPWC presented several climate change adaptation strategies for the water sector and showed examples from the Netherlands. to download the presentation click here Aquatech - Innovations in coping with water and climate related risks (IWA, NVA) 26-29 October 2006, Amsterdam, The Netherlands In September 2004, IWA in co-operation with the NVA and the CPWC had organised its first successful international conference on water and climate. In September 2006 a second IWA “Water and Climate” conference was held in Amsterdam.  The emphasis was on dissemination of tools, learning from coping actions and about technological innovations. To look at the programme click here IWA World Water Congress, Beijing 12-15 September 2006, Beijing, China workshop: Climate Change in Practice - Planning for and Adapting to the Impacts of a Changing Climatic Conditions in the Management of Water Water, wastewater and stormwater storage, treatment and distribution/collection systems have been constructed based on a set of historic data sets on temperature, rainfall, snowmelt. With climate change these are subject to change. This workshop, tied to the creation of a new Specialist Group within IWA Climate Change in Practice, surveyed the basic assumptions and considered how changes in underlying conditions could and will change urban stormwater and utility practice. The Workshop offered the opportunity to learn about the latest thinking on how climate change will impact urban/utility practice and what can be done to adapt to these changes. The presentations are available, click here Living with Climate Variability and Change: Understanding the Uncertainties and Managing the Risks 17-21 July 2006, Espoo, Finland Organized by WMO and co-hosted by Finnish Meteorological Institute and the IRI. The conference reviewed opportunities and constraints in integrating climate risks and uncertainties into the mainstreams of decision-making. It drew on the experiences of public and private organizations worldwide that have been engaged in managing risks including those of a climatic origin. The CPWC has played an active role. The presentations given at the event are available click here