DATE / TIME:

2019/06/18 - 2019/06/19

Location:

Hannover, Germany

Co-Organisers:

• Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ (Ilona Bärlund and Dietrich Borchardt)
• Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources – BGR (Ralf Klingbeil)
• Ruhr-University Bochum (Martina Flörke)
• UN Environment (Hartwig Kremer and Kilian Christ)
• eawag (Michael Berg, Joel Podgorski, and Anja Bretzler)
• International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (Harald Köthe)
• UNU-FLORES (Sabrina Kirschke)

Poor water quality worldwide obstructs the human rights of safe access to drinking water and sanitation, compromises food security, and poses a risk to biodiversity. The United Nations (UN) Member States are currently working towards achieving the 169 targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of these 17 Goals is dedicated to water and has a target addressing water quality.

In order to monitor progress in reaching the goals, monitoring systems and indicators are required. For this, a concerted action to better understand the global state of water quality problems and the best way to solve them has been initiated, the World Water Quality Alliance.

The main objectives of this Open Workshop are to:

• provide information on the newly established World Water Quality Alliance,
• share approaches to assess the dimensions of the global water quality crisis in relation to water security, and
• screen for expertise and interests concerning potential large-scale water quality assessment components.

The expected outcome is an overview of expertise and interests in water quality and new institutional members to be encouraged to participate in the World Water Quality Alliance.

Programme

Moderator: Ilona Bärlund

Background

The 10th Water Research Horizon Conference will bring together national and international scientists, practitioners and policy-makers with diverse backgrounds. Participants will engage in a multi-lateral and multidisciplinary exchange about the role of research in addressing the challenges of water security and food security in the face of global change. Focus will be on the science needed to make informed decisions about water allocations and uses now and in the future. The vision is a world without hunger and a sufficient quantity and quality of water for the various needs of the people, without compromising the vitality of ecosystems. This perspective will guide the presentations as well as discussion panels that are organised in six thematic sessions.

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