Water-Wise communities as drivers for change in Cities of the Future

International Water Association Water wise cities

Target Audience

Water planning practitioners, city planners, researchers and individuals actively engaged in achieving sustainable urban water management outcomes that drive resilient and liveable cities. Preferably , audience shall be willing to spend few minutes reading about the IWA Principles for Water Wise Cities

Description

What is a Water-Wise community? And how can urban and water leaders and professionals contribute to the transition towards “Sustainable Urban Water” in their cities?

City densification, limited resources and an uncertain future are the new urban reality. The Principles for Water-Wise cities , establish a strong framework for urban stakeholders to start or continue their journey to water-wise cities. One of its cornerstones is collaborative action to address the challenges in urban water management via integrating water in all aspects of city planning.

This webinar will outline the Principles that are structured along four Levels of Action and will focus on how the 4th Level, building “Water-Wise communities” enables all others. These communities can be characterized by Empowered Citizens, Professionals Aware of Water Co-benefits, Transdisciplinary Planning Teams, Policy Makers Enabling Water-Wise Action and leaders that Engage and Engender Trust. Case studies from different cities, each with their own approach, demonstrate that water wise communities drive innovation and, ultimately, the ownership of resilient and liveable city outcomes. . Danielle Gallet (Metropolitan Planning Council Chicago) will share experiences on the Calumet Stormwater Collaborative (CSC). City water stories from Melbourne, Kampala and Singapore will be presented by Rob Skinner and Briony Rogers (Monash Water Sensitive Cities), followed by an interactive panel discussion.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the session, participants will be able to

• Understand the philosophy behind the IWA Principles for Water Wise Cities
• Understand the concepts and importance of water wise communities
• Describe the role of water wise communities within the planning and design of cities

Host

Corinne Trommsdorff , Programme Manager, Cities of the Future

Panelists

  • Danielle Gallet Metropolitan Planning Council, Chicago
  • Briony Rogers Research Fellow with the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities and Monash Water for Liveability.
  • Robert Skinner Chief Executive Officer of Monash Water for Liveability.