Water experts from around the world are meeting this week at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm to address diverse social and environmental issues related to water resources, including the critical role of water management in efforts to reduce poverty, environmental degradation, disease, and hunger.
The theme of the 2006 conference focuses on shared responsibility and benefits, beyond the context of the water resource itself. Sessions are seeking to more broadly assess water management challenges and opportunities, and their implications, as well as determine ways to value and distribute the many economic and social benefits of water resources. For example, the central role of water to human livelihoods, land use impacts on water quality and quantity, and coping with natural disasters are topics of particular importance at this year's meeting. Conference presentations will also give attention to the management of transboundary water resources and the resolution of water conflicts, the importance of water for food production, corruption in the water sector, and the diminishing health of water ecosystems such as the Baltic Sea.
World Water Week, organized and hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute, seeks to provide the global water community with a forum for capacity building, the forging of new partnerships, and an exchange of insights from past successes and failures. Some 1500 participants, including business, government, non-profit, and international organization leaders, representing over 140 countries are attending the event.
RELATED LINKS:
World Water Week in Stockholm: 20-26 August 2006
Stockholm International Water Institute
EarthTrends Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems Research Topic
EarthTrends Watersheds of the World Special Collection of River Basin Data
