International Hydrological Programme

New directions in urban water management

International Symposium

Convened by UNESCO
12-14 September 2007
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France


:: Statement 2007 [PDF format – 36 KB] New!
:: Final List of Participants [PDF format - 125 KB] New!
:: Programme [PDF format – 138 KB]
:: Abstracts [PDF format – 1.1 MB]
:: Registration [PDF format – 454 KB]
:: Contact: SymposiumUWM2007@unesco.org


Background

Over half of the world’s population will live in cities by year 2010, a large part in an increasing number of megacities. Urban water problems are growing more complex and acute all over the globe. Widespread mismanagement of water resources, growing competition for the use of freshwater, degraded sources heighten the depth of these problems, which are likely to be increased under the looming effects of the climate change and variability.

Cities in the developed world face critical challenges such as: lack of basic water supply and sanitation, aging infrastructure, a degrading environment and vulnerability to extreme events. In the urban environment in developing countries, providing improved access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, as called for by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), now commands a greater sense of urgency and is seen as a necessary pre-condition for health and success in the fight against poverty, hunger, infant mortality and gender inequality. These problems can only be addressed properly through a concerted effort which involves scientific, social and institutional approaches.

New paradigms for improved urban water management are emerging – reflecting integrated management of all components, and emphasizing demand management (more efficient water use and reuse), implementation of more environmental friendly and energy efficient technologies and solutions adapted to the particular physical and socio-economic settings.

The International Hydrological Programme of UNESCO has an active and continuously evolving programme aimed at the development of approaches, tools, guidelines and capacity building means to allow cities to assess their urban water situation and to adopt more effective urban water management strategies and practices. During the Fifth Phase of IHP (1997-2001) a number of management issues were addressed, culminating in a major event, in the International Symposium on ‘Frontiers in Urban Water Management: Deadlock or Hope?’ held in Marseille, France, on 18-20 June 2001. During the Sixth Phase of IHP (2002-2007), an ample scope of work extending an integrated approach was carried out through nine urban water management projects.


Objectives of the symposium

  • Bringing together leading international urban water management experts to discuss new concepts, approaches and technologies for dealing with urban water problems under various settings, covering both industrialized and developing countries.

  • Exchanging ideas for new directions in urban water management, as well as drawing recommendations for the formulation of new strategies and implementation elements such as guidelines and educational tools.

  • Presenting and delivering the results and outputs of the IHP-VI Urban Water Management Programme (UWMP) and gathering feedback from the participants regarding their applicability, gaps and possible extensions. These elements will also feed the design of the next phase of IHP-VII (2008-2013).


Symposium topics

  • Data requirements management for integrated urban water management.

  • Processes and interactions in the urban water cycle.

  • Towards sustainable urban groundwater management.

  • Integrated urban water system interactions: complementarities among urban water services.

  • Integrated urban water modeling and management under specific climates.

  • Urban water security, human health and disaster prevention.

  • Urban aquatic habitats in integrated urban water management.

  • Socio-economic and institutional aspects in urban water management.

  • Urban water education, training and technology transfer.


Structure and programme of the Symposium

The official Opening of the Symposium is on 12 September 2007.

Plenary sessions: Presentation of the findings and main outputs of the nine UNESCO’s IHP-VI urban water projects by the project coordinators and contributions from invited speakers and debate by the participants.

Workshops and poster session: Nine workshops covering the Symposium topics held in three half-day sessions, each having three workshops running in parallel. Selected papers will be presented in the workshops and in a poster session.

Final session: Wrap-up and conclusions from the Symposium with the feedback and recommendations of the workshops in the afternoon of the third day.

Programme

Programme

Side Events

The programme has generated a few issues of broad character and immediate practical application such as urban groundwater modeling and ecological sanitation. The Side-events on 11 September will provide an opportunity for demonstrations and practical work. Additional information about the programme of the side-events will be provided later to those who have expressed their interest in participating in the side-events. Each event will be limited to 25 people in order of registration.


1. Short course on Urban Groundwater Modelling (conducted by the University of Aberdeen under the auspices of UNESCO). Participants will bring their own personal computers.
:: Access Programme [PDF format – 86 KB]


2. Sustainable sanitation for the cities of the future (convened by GTZ, SWITCH and SIAAP)
:: Access Programme [PDF format – 34 KB]


3. A new approach to integrated urban water management: the SWITCH Programme (presented by UNESCO-IHE)
:: Access Programme [PDF format – 35 KB]


Additional information

Stands: Partners institutions may set up stands to display their urban water related work and publications.

Field trip and Social events: A field trip to a sludge treatment plant followed by a cocktail will be offered by SIAAP on 12 September 2007. The visit will be limited to 100 people in order of registration.

Accommodation: The participants will take care directly of their own hotel arrangements. The Secretariat of the Symposium will facilitate upon request a list of hotels nearby the venue offering preferential rates to the participants in the UNESCO Symposium.

Visa procedure: The Secretariat of the Symposium will issue, if requested,, letters of invitation to registered participants in order facilitate the visa application process.


Organizers

Symposium Chairpersons
J.A. Tejada-Guibert (UNESCO-IHP)
C. Maksimovic (CUW-UK, IRTCUD)

Organizing Committee
J.A. Tejada-Guibert (UNESCO-IHP)
C. Maksimovic (CUW –UK, IRTCUD)
M. Zalewski (European Regional Centre on Ecohydrology)
P. Hubert (IAHS)
K. Vairavamorthy (UNESCO-IHE)
K. Howard (IAH)
R. Ardakanian (RCUWM-Tehran)
A. Galvis (CINARA)
P. Reiter (IWA)
C. Werner (GTZ)
D. Duminy (SIAAP)
P. Dogse (UNESCO MAB)
W. Gilbrich (UNESCO-IHP)
J.L. Martin-Bordes (UNESCO-IHP)
B. Radojevic (UNESCO-IHP)
S. Zandaryaa (UNESCO-IHP)

Scientific Advisory Committee
D. Butler(UK) A. Turton (South Africa)
T. Fletcher (Australia) G. Amy (The Netherlands)
J. Marsalek (Canada) L. Mays (USA)
B. Chocat (France) I. Wagner (Poland)
C. Tucci (Brazil) S. Thorolfsson (Norway)
B. Barraque (France) E. Vlachos (USA)
U. Shamir (Israel) T.Tuhkanen (Finland)
A. Abrishamchi (Iran) M. Saad (Egypt)
B. Jimenez (Mexico) C. Maksimovic (UK)
D. Pokrajac (UK) P. Dogse (UNESCO-MAB)
I. Hespanhol (Brazil) K. Gupta (India)
K. Vairamoorthy (The Netherlands)
J. Fried (USA)


Organizational aspects

The Symposium will be held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France from 12 to 14 September 2007. It will be preceded by side-events on 11 September (see Side-Events section).
The language of the Symposium will be English.


There may be a limited number of travel grants for participants from developing countries with accepted papers. No registration fees will be demanded for this Symposium. A modest fee on the order of 30€/40$ to cover cost of material will be demanded from the participants at the time of the registration.


The number of participants will be limited to 200.
Opportunities for sponsorship are open. Please contact the Symposium Secretariat to ask for the different modalities of sponsoring this event.


Queries regarding the Symposium should be addressed to the following e-mail: SymposiumUWM2007@unesco.org


Pre-Registration

Deadline for pre-registration: 30 June 2007
We encourage participants to register via e-mail SymposiumUWM2007@unesco.org) providing the information requested below:

Title: Mr/Mrs/Ms (delete as appropriate)
Name:
Institute/Organization/Company:
Postal Address:
Fax:
E-mail:
Telephone number:

  • I plan to present a paper/poster under topic number:

  • I plan to attend the workshops on topics number:

  • I plan to participate in the field trip on 12 September 2007:

  • I plan to participate in a side-event on 11 September 2007:

    • - Short course on urban groundwater modelling
    - The need for sustainable sanitation in the city of the future
    - Overview of a major European project on urban water management: SWITCH

Contact Details

Symposium on New directions in Urban Water Management
Division of Water Sciences, UNESCO
1 rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15, FRANCE
Fax: +33 1 4568 5811
E-mail: SymposiumUWM2007@unesco.org