STREAMS OF CHANGE: Exploring the Intersection of Water and UN Priorities

UN Day (22nd May) International Day for Biological Diversity

Theme: Water for Food and Biodiversity: Sustainable Practices for a Growing Population.
Focus: Exploring the 3-way nexus between water management, agriculture, and biodiversity conservation.

Event Rationale: set against the context of SDG 6, the CIFAL Surrey event explores the threefold challenges of water management in providing (1) clean water and sanitation for cities and rural areas, (2) accessible and affordable water sources for agriculture and the sustainable growth of food, and (3) in underwriting the principles of conservation inherent in biodiversity. After a ‘setting the scene’ introduction, this trinity of challenges is divided into three sub-panels, exploring each issue in more detail, followed by a quick-fire round of ‘actionable solutions’ proposed by all participants, in response to two current case studies being researched by our experts.

Event Approach: the goal is to divide the overarching challenge of water management – as tackled by national, regional and municipal policy makers – into chronological, thematic, and geographic insights. In this way, the event will provide a clear overview of the development of key trends in this area in the past decade, their application within given themes (city and rural water sources, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity), and their application as self-standing case studies. This in turn will ensure all participants have the opportunity to compare and analyse the extent to which SDG 6 actually operates in practice.

Take Aways: the analysis and conclusions can be rolled into a post-event briefing note, which will be added to our new online, publicly available CIFAL Policy Briefs, circulated to all attendees, disseminated to interested CIFAL centres and to UNITAR itself.

Panel Themes

9-9.30am Setting the Scene: The Interaction of Water Management Issues
•    Professor Amelia Hadfield, Director, CIFAL Surrey 
•    Professor Prashant Kumar, Director, RECLAIM  
•    Dr. Ebru Canan-Sokullu, Associate Director of CIFAL Global Network and Deputy Director for Resource Mobilisation, UNITAR

9.30-10.15 Panel 1: Surveying the latest developments in clean water and sanitation for cities and rural areas

•    Chair: Professor Amelia Hadfield, CIFAL Surrey 
•    Dr Devendra Saroj, Institute for Sustainability Fellow, 
•    Dr Jonathan Chenoweth, Institute for Sustainability Fellow 
•    Dr Katherine Pond, Institute for Sustainability Fellow 

10.15-11.00 Panel 2: Opportunities and challenges in providing water sources for sustainable agriculture 
•    Chair: Professor Prashant Kumar, Director, RECLAIM  
•    Dr Daniel Green, RECLAIM Fellow confirmed (Herriot Watts University)
•    Dr Belen Marti-Cardona, Institute for Sustainability Fellow

11.00-11.45 Panel 3: Conservation vs. Preservation? What role does water management play in biodiversity?

•    Chair: Professor Amelia Hadfield, CIFAL Surrey 
•    Louise Firth, RECLAIM Fellow confirmed (UCC, Ireland) 
•    Dr Belen Marti-Cardona, Institute for Sustainability Fellow

11.45-12.15 RECLAIM Case Studies & Actionable Solutions
•    Chair:  Thomas Kjeldsen, presenting the Case Study: Catchment-scale benefits and dis-benefits of green-grey infrastructure in urban rivers
•    Professor Prashant Kumar, Director, RECLAIM  
•    FAO or IFAD representative, tbc

12.15-12.30 Conclusion : Taking the next steps 
•    Professor Amelia Hadfield, CIFAL Surrey
•   Dr. Ebru Canan-Sokullu, Associate Director of CIFAL Global Network and Deputy Director for Resource Mobilisation, UNITAR