European Regional Coordination World Water Forum 5

European Regional Coordination fifth World Water Forum


The second meeting of the European Regional Process will be held on 8 and 9 July in Zaragoza, Spain. The draft programme is now available and more information and the invitation can be found via this link . Please register by filling in the registration form . 

5th World Water Forum

In March 2009 the fifth World Water Forum will take place in Istanbul. Over the last 12 years, the World Water Fora have grown to be major events, connecting all stakeholders on water. In 2009, over 20 000 people are expected to attend again, combining politicians, businesses and NGO’s to find solutions to attain sustainable water use under the overarching theme “Bridging divides for Water”. More information on the Forum is available at the website.

The programme of the Forum has been divided in six main themes - which are listed in the second announcement  – and a political process. The programme is designed to culminate in a clear set of political recommendations and commitments for action.

To prepare for this Forum a thematic as well as a regional process is set up and thematic and regional coordinators have been selected. The thematic coordinators will form consortia to develop their respective theme, topics and sessions. Seeing that issues differ across regions, the regional coordinators will develop these themes in their regional context and provide region-specific input into the Forum.

More info on the political and the thematic processes is available via the links. 

Regional Processes

The aim of the regional process is to mobilize actors in the region and act as a catalyst for specific contributions from the region to the Forum. Seeing that issues differ across regions, the regional coordinators will develop these themes in their regional context and provide region-specific input into the Forum. Each region is coordinated by a specific organization or group of organizations that aims to bring together the various stakeholders from all sectors and corners of the region.

The regional contributions to the Forum will be implemented though specific regional preparatory processes in 5 “continent” based regions. Apart from Europe for which the EWP has been appointed European Regional Coordinator, there are: 


European Regional Coordination 

 


The organisational committee of the Forum has asked the European Water Partnership (EWP) to be the regional coordinator for Europe. We have taken up this role to achieve the best representation possible of European issues and solutions and make sure all stakeholders will be represented, working especially to make sure European business and politicians are represented as well.

As a result of the first meeting for the ERP, held in Brussels last February 27th, eight key European issues have been identified and thematic coordinators have been selected to lead each group. These are:

1) Future of Water in Europe (EWP, Agnes Biesiekierska: a.biesiekierska@ewp.eu)
2) Climate Change and Adaptation (n/a) 
3) Water for Energy, Energy for Water (DHI, EWP, Agnes Vaillier: a.vaillier@ewp.eu)
4) Basin Management and Transboundary Cooperation (INBO, Jean Francois Donzier, jf.donzier@oieau.fr)
5) Finance (EIB, Jose Frade, FRADE@eib.org)  
6) Sanitation (WECF, Sascha Gabizon, sascha.gabizon@wecf.org)  
7) Water Scarcity and Droughts (Water Scarcity and Droughts Expert network, Gabriele Bonaiti, g.bonaiti@rivieraberica.veneto.it)
8) Water Science and Technologies (WSSTP, Harro Riedstra, h.riedstra@ewp.eu)

This process aims to be as open and interactive as possible, aiming to reach people’s opinion in all corners and to amplify the voice of Europe on water. The EWP is warmly welcoming all contributions, inputs and suggestions from everyone interested in making a difference in Istanbul.

More detailed info on the ERP can be found here.

Outputs of the European Regional Process

There are three main outputs to be prepared for the Forum, which are listed below.
However, we think the regional thematic processes should remain in existence after the Forum and not only focus on delivering results at the Forum itself.

1) European Regional Document
This document will provide a clear overview of the actions taken per theme, the challenges Europe faces on the themes and the recommendations (resolutions) to address these challenges, serving as a guidance document for future policy development in Europe.

2) European Regional Session
The regional thematic processes will provide input into the European Regional Session at the Forum. At this event the European Regional Document will be presented and the regional thematic processes will have the chance to present and discuss their results and resolutions.

3) Input in the thematic sessions at the Forum
The second announcement of the Forum lists the six themes of the conference in more detail. For each these themes thematic coordinators have been appointed and they will select the contributions to the sessions over the coming months.

More info on how to participate in the thematic sessions is available on the website of the Forum. 

Representation European Regional Process in existing Conferences

The Regional Process should connect to as many existing initiatives and conferences in Europe as possible, to ensure a broad knowledge base within the themes. A list of identified conferences has been contacted to make sure their results can be used as input in the Regional Process and a logo has been developed to show the connection between these conferences and the Regional Process. A list of these conferences is available on the website of the European Water News

For more info on this and to get involved in the process please get in contact with Lucilla Minelli. 

EWP-Contacts:

Harro Riedstra (EWP, Project Manager)
Lucilla Minelli (EWP, Assistant Coordinator European Regional Process)