The IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition (IWA WWCE) is the global event for water professionals. It offers new insights into how pioneering science, technological innovation and leading practices shape the major transformation in water management that is underway. It draws over 5,500 of the top water, environment and related professionals from more than 100 countries from across the water sector, including thought leaders from within and beyond the water sector.
The 2016 WWCE is taking place in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and will cover five program themes:
- Cities, Utilities and Industries Leading Change.
- Re-Charting the Course of Water Resources.
- Enabling Progress with Good Governance, Sustainable Finance and ICT.
- Water Quality, Safety and Human Health.
- Water and Wastewater Processes and Treatments.
Focusing on leading practice, innovation and solutions, the event provides new networking and business opportunities, and ensures maximum exposure between participants, exhibitors and sponsors. It connects attendees with the right people and the right solutions, and has a track record of fostering new collaborations and partnerships, and providing a platform for exhibitors and sponsors to raise their profile amongst leading water professionals and companies.
For more information, visit the congress website.
Principal Sponsor of the World Water Congress
The Australian Water Partnership is pleased to be participating at this year’s World Water Congress with key government departments and organisations as Principal Sponsor under the banner: Australia – water partners for development.
Australia – water partners for development brings together the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the Bureau of Meteorology, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, and the Australian Water Partnership (representing 100 Australian public and private sector organisations).
Australia is sharing its experience in the sustainable and equitable management of water resources internationally. Our exhibition and speaking program highlights Australia’s achievements in water policymaking, weather and water information and forecasting, water resource assessment, and river basin planning and operations. It showcases the science, tools and services that deliver a reliable picture of Australia’s water resources to inform the development of policies and strategies for effective water resource management.
Visit our gateway to Australian expertise and technology and discuss ways to improve water security and manage water to sustain livelihoods and economic well-being in your country.
This is an opportunity for AWP partners to take advantage of:
- an Australian Government exhibition stand
- various networking events with conference delegates and two specially hosted delegations from Asia and Iran
- three business forums, and
- another in a series of efforts by the AWP and international partners to address water scarcity and drought on the world stage, this time vis a high-level summit. Registrations for the Summit have closed but you can get involved in efforts arising from this by following #DroughtAction.
Global summit on drought and water scarcity
In cooperation with the IWA, AWP will also hold a summit on the theme of drought and water scarcity on October 10 in Brisbane in connection with the World Water Congress.
This is the world’s first summit on water scarcity and drought! This initiative aims to understand how to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals and will initially comprise of leadership from 20 companies, governments in 12 countries, organisations, civil society and academia.
The Summit brings together leaders from governments, businesses, NGOs, science and technology, who are either challenged by water scarcity and drought or are focusing on developing and implementing solutions. It is aimed at gaining new insights and foresights into the causes and outlook on water scarcity and drought throughout the world. We will explore new ways of collaboration and new roles for government, business, NGOs and other actors in turning the water scarcity and droughts challenge into new opportunities for sustainable development.
The Prime Minister of Australia will be attending to inaugurate the Summit.
Sessions and Networking
We will be holding a series of 10-minute presentations on the Australia stand (#210) during the breaks.
Business Forum Sessions
Please join us for the following Business Forum Sessions that the AWP and its co-sponsors are delivering during the Congress. Only registered visitors and delegates have free access to the exhibition, please register online for your free pass.
Australia’s National Water Policy Settings and their Application in the Murray-Darling Basin Tuesday 11 Oct 2016, 15:30 – 16:15, Business Forum Room 1 (Room BF 1)
Presenters: Richard McLoughlin (Assistant Secretary Water Resources, Water Division, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources), and David Dreverman (Senior Executive, Murray Darling Basin Authority).
Overview An extensive and often academically focussed global literature exists on the need for, and benefits of, integrated river basin management. However there are relatively few examples where a clearly articulated national-level water policy has been put into practice at a basin level. Australia’s states and territories and the national government agreed a national water policy in 2004 (the ‘National Water Initiative’) and it remains an enduring and successful example of micro-economic reform that has had significant demonstrated value in guiding water management across the whole country, although it has not yet been fully implemented in all areas. Its most significant translation into water reform and management is in the Murray Darling Basin, where a whole-of-Basin management Plan was made into law in 2012. The Murray Darling Basin Plan (the Plan) incorporates most of the principles of the National Water Initiative including comprehensive accounting for water resources, explicit allocation decisions including between environmental needs and consumptive users, operation of water markets and the creation of enduring property rights in water including for towns and cities water management at basin scale. . This forum session will describe the ups and downs of the Australian water reform journey from policy evolution to operational water management at a basin scale.
What is needed to deliver SDGs? What the water industry should be doing to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals become a reality. Wednesday 12 Oct 2016, 11:15 – 12:15, Room BF 1
Presenters: Barbara Frost (Chief Executive of Water Aid International), and John Thwaites (Chair of Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Australia)
Overview The Forum is hosted by Monash Water Sensitive Cities, Monash Sustainable Development Institute and will build on the themes developed by Thwaites and Frost in their Keynote addresses. What is being done in practice to deliver SDG6 – by John Thwaites (with focus on the work of the Sustainable Development Solutions network) and Barbara Frost (with focus on the work of the WASH sector), with an emphasise on the high interdependence between SDG6 and other SDGs.
The UN’s High-level Panel on Water How valuing water has improved water allocation and built resilience to water scarcity in Australia Wednesday 12 Oct 2016, 15:30 – 16:15, Room BF 1
Moderator: Gary Jones (AWP) Presenters: DFAT & AWP Panelists: Huh Pohlner/Will Fargher (Aither), Jane Doolan (University of Canberra), Paul Hardisty (CSIRO), John Dore (DFAT)
Overview Currently, water scarcity affects more than 40 per cent of the global population. Over 1.7 billion people are currently living in river basins where water use exceeds recharge. This is projected to rise as demand increases with growing populations and rising incomes. However, this predicted increase in people affected by water scarcity will be compounded by the effects of climate change in the future. As we face a future with increasing populations and the potential for more frequent, more severe droughts in more parts of the world, it will be important to underpin the allocation of scarce water resources with transparent and defendable water planning, management and investment decisions. In Australia, explicitly recognising the value of water as a scarce economic good (or scarce common pool resource) has been central to triple-bottom line effectiveness in water resources allocation and use. Importantly, valuing water has enhanced not diminished water policy and management decisions made on equity or environmental grounds. Providing subsidies to meet the water needs of the poor or directing water for the protection of the environment can be seen as valid policy decisions beyond Australia, in a broader international context,. Proper valuing of water (on monetary or non-monetary bases), and effective allocation policy and allocative mechanisms (such as water trading) have provided a clearer picture and more rationale and evidence-based approach to the allocation trade-offs involved.
Foundations for water security in Australia: the essential role of innovative science and water information Thursday 13 Oct 2016, 10:30 – 11:15, Room BF 1
Presenters: Warwick McDonald (Research Director Water Resource Management, CSIRO) and Graham Hawke (Deputy Director, Environment and Research, Bureau of Meteorology).
Overview The Millennium Drought (1997–2009) decimated production in Australia’s most important agricultural regions, and significantly impacted the ecological health of Australian rivers, particularly in the Murray–Darling Basin. The severity of the drought triggered a comprehensive response by the Commonwealth that included new powers and functions under the Water Act 2007 for the Bureau of Meteorology to collate, analyse and disseminate water information as a foundation for more efficient water use and sharing of Australia’s river and groundwater systems. As a result, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO developed a critical partnership that reformed how the nation thinks about water. This forum provides an opportunity to engage in a discussion around the innovative science and product development behind state-of-the-art water information services. Australia now has: i) streamflow forecasting services used by regional water managers for water scheduling to water allocation decisions; ii) water data transfer formats embedded in water industry software and used by water agencies as a means to exchange water information; iii) landscape water balance models to underpin national water accounting, on-going regional water availability assessments; and iv) foundation data sets: digital elevation model for the continent; improved rainfall and evapotranspiration estimates especially in areas with sparse measurement.
Get your Free visitor badge for the exhibition and have a look at an overwhelming Australian Presence in the Congress and Exhibition, and at the same see global leading technologies and solutions. Discuss challenges with international experts and the Australian water leaders. Select your session from 52 inspiring global Forum sessions. And do all of this with a free of charge visit to the IWA WWCE Exhibition. Please find all information on registration as Visitor via following link: click here. This is where you also can register.
Please note that the invitation includes:
- full access to the exhibition during Opening Hours
- access to the daily Business Forum session (52 in total), organized by global partners (see more info at worldwatercongress.org)
- meetings with the exhibitors in the large Australian Precinct as well as our global exhibitors; see a full list via this link: Provisional Exhibitors List September 2016
- access to the Emerging Technology Pavilion, the Knowledge & Research Pavilion, The Cities Pavilion and other features (more info atworldwatercongress.org)
Only registered visitors have free access to the exhibition, so please click here for your free registration.