Stockholm Water Week Agenda in August to Offer Future Perspectives

Full Program for World Water Week and Symposium Now Available

The world’s water experts and stakeholders will assemble this August in Stockholm for sharp discussions about the planet’s most pressing water-related issues. The program for the 2003 World Water Week in Stockholm, August 10-16, and the 13th Stockholm Water Symposium, August 11-14, is now available at www.siwi.org/waterweek2003.

Experts in Stockholm will examine causes, effects and strategies for key global water-related issues. These include water and agricultural subsidies/trade barriers, climate variability, ecosystem protection, financing, integrated water resources management, pollution elimination, governance, poverty reduction, river basin management, transboundary issues, and “virtual” water.

The week also provides a forum to discuss the practical implementation of decisions reached and initiatives launched during the recent World Water Forum, World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and June 1-3 G8 Evian Summit, particularly in relation to the UN Millennium Development Goals and the WSSD water-related targets to halve by 2015 the proportion of the world’s population lacking safe drinking water and safe sanitation.

Practically speaking, solutions to many of the issues discussed during the recent global meetings will, in the future, be implemented locally, nationally, regionally or internationally at the river basin level. Thus, the 13th Stockholm Water Symposium takes this perspective with the theme of “Drainage Basin Security – Balancing Production, Trade and Water Use.” Expert speakers will include Ms. Mona El-Kady, chairperson of Egypt’s National Water Research Center, Dr. Peter Rogers of Harvard University, and Mr. Wang Shucheng, China’s Minister of Water Resources.

Stockholm’s role as a main annual global platform for continuing dialogue is enhanced in 2003 with meetings and seminars by the European Union, Global Water Partnership, International Flood Network, International Foundation for Science, Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, Swedish Water House, UNEP/Global International Waters Assessment and others.

Festivities during the week will include the presentation of the Stockholm Water Prize to Professor Peter A. Wilderer of the Technical University of Munich. The Stockholm Junior Water Prize, Stockholm Industry Water Award and Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award will also be presented.

Experts from academia, business, NGOs, international organisations, civil society, government, policy making, science, the water profession and elsewhere will participate in Stockholm.

SIWI – Independent, Leading-Edge Water Competence for Future-Oriented Action

The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) is a policy think tank that contributes to international efforts to combat the world’s escalating water crisis. SIWI advocates future-oriented, knowledge-integrated water views in decision making, nationally and internationally, that lead to sustainable use of the world’s water resources and sustainable development of societies.