Water Security, Policy, Innovation and Adoption

Description

Water security is a concept that was developed by the United Nations (UN) and other global organisations. The concept dates back to the 1990s but proliferated over time. It has evolved into a multi-dimensional policy concept that covers areas including water for people and their health and wellbeing, water for ecosystems, water for economic development and food production, and water and climate hazards. As a holistic approach, it depends on transboundary stakeholder collaborations, water governance, peace and political stability and financing.

Water security is deeply interconnected to sustainability, well-being, ecosystems, social and economic development, and climate change. It provides a  foundation for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a basis for policy development, sustainable water management, setting priorities, long-term development beyond SDGs, and considers the impact of climate change and global demographics. Fast urbanisation, social and structural inequalities make cities an especially tough challenge for water security. How to make sure that we are leaving no one behind?

This was the third webinar of a “Water Security Webinar Series” which was proposed to raise awareness about the challenges and opportunities around water security globally, engaging with key sectors (e.g., utilities, industry, agrifood), increasing the participation of key stakeholders (e.g., young water professionals, policy makers) and regions (e.g., global south).

The programme focusses on the delivery of two webinars per year, each one of them focusing on an urgent and timely aspect of water security to give a detailed view of the overall concept of water security at the end of the series. The first two topics were delivered in 2 English and 2 Spanish webinars, in June and December 2024. The recordings are available here.

This 3rd webinar in the series discussed Water Security in relation to policy, innovation and adoption.