World Water Week 2018, which was held in Stockholm from August 26 to 31, hosted by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), is an international conference focused on global water issues. Experts, decision-makers, businesses, young professionals, and NGOs from across the world gathered to discuss water issues. In 2018, over 3600 participants from 133 countries attended nearly 300 sessions on the theme Water, Eco-systems and Human Development. The Japan Water Forum attended the conference as a Japanese NGO and secretariat of both the Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF) and the Northern Water Network (NoWNET), collecting and transmitting information, and promoting networking through sessions and exhibitions.
It was remarkable that about 30% of this year’s sessions addressed the importance of investment in water, the building of a framework and systems for promoting investment, and examples and problems of investment. This suggests that in addition to concrete measures for the solution of water challenges, investment is regarded as a very important factor in creating an enabling environment.
Another feature of the SWWW was that the APWF hosted a session on the Asia-Pacific region. Though sessions on the Asia-Pacific region had previously been hosted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the APWF, upon request from the conference organizer, has taken over the role of host for sessions on the Asia-Pacific region entitled Asia Focus over three years. Therefore, under the overarching theme Asia Focus, the APWF held four sessions this year on the following themes: Natural Alternatives to Water Storage; Water Sensitive & Livable Green Cities in Asia; Innovative Financing to Protect Ecosystems and Promote Nature in Asia; and Challenging Nexus Technologies, a Force for Good? The panelists and audience exchanged opinions through interactive dialogue on a variety of topics, from policies and legal systems to various projects of different scales, to how to obtain balanced designs for action.
NoWNET is a network organization consisting of water partnerships from nine developed countries (France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, South Korea and Japan) and two leading international water organizations: the World Water Council and Global Water Partnership. At World Water Week 2018, representatives from nine organizations that participate in NoWNET gathered and had a meeting to exchange opinions about the present status and future schedule of each organization, the purposes of collaborative activities, and opportunities for information transmission.
The JWF will gladly supply information on networks that the JWF has obtained through participation in the event. Please do not hesitate to contact office[at]waterforum.jp, if you have any subjects or countries you are interested in.
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▼For the details of the SWWW, please visit following official website▼
http://www.worldwaterweek.org/
▼For the details of the APWF’s activity, please visit following website▼
https://www.waterforum.jp/all/policy_recommendations/apwf/2018/1017/?p=10212tag=en,rep_en
▼For the details of the NoWNET’s activity, please visit following website▼
https://www.waterforum.jp/all/transmitting_japanese/nownet/2018/0918/?p=10051tag=en,rep_en
(Reported by Sae Ishihara, Manager)
