Edito

Everything you want to know and find out about the 6^th World Water Forum programme

The 6-day, 400-session programme is now unveiled and available for you in different ways. To make it short: less paper, more digital. In an environmentally friendly approach, and in line with the current mobility habits, the programme of the Forum will live under different forms, combining digital tools, paper documents, among others, to make the consultation of events easier thanks to new technologies.

Build your personal interactive programme: In addition to the sessions quick look, the online programme features a search engine that displays the sessions by day and by time slot, by event type, by topic, by location, as well as a free search by keywords ; a bookmark to compose your own agenda ; the possibility to share events via social media (Facebook, Twitter ...). Also the mobile applications - iPad, iPhone, Android – will provide a quick and easy access to the programme and to the practical information, wherever you are ; a "Flashcode" scanning system to identify the sessions of a room ; the location-based inventory of events outside the Parc Chanot.

Beyond less paper, more digital also means more information. Detailed session information, core groups and target/ solutions group reports are also being posted in the Forum programme. Videos, presentations and speeches will also be posted during the Forum week. Ultimately, this will become a comprehensive Knowledge plateform, gathering the outcomes of the Forum work, the discussions, solutions and commitments.

The International Forum Committee secretariat.

An eye on the Programme

Here is a short selection among the rich programme of political, thematic, regional and Grassroots & Citizenship sessions and events:

6 High Level events, following the opening ceremony, 12 March:

• World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) - Launch of the 4^th report Development Report (15:00)
• 2012, European Year of Water (15:30)
• Desalination Facility for the Gaza Strip - The Key Solution for an Intensifying Water Crisis (15h30)
• Innovative Financing for the Sustainable Rehabilitation of Lake Chad (15h30)
• Solidarity for Water in the Niger Basin: Practical Commitments for Real Solutions (17:00)
• The Way Towards Rio+20 (15:30)

2 Water Debates on:

• Private/Public involvement in the provision of water and sanitation services (13 March, 13:00)
• Increasing Resilience to Climate Change: What is the Role of Water Storage? (16 March, 13:00)

10 High Level Panels will cover the following issues:

• Global Water Governance (13 March, 11:00)
• Water and Food Security (13 March, 14:30)
• Future of World’s Water Beyond 2025 (14 March, 08:30)
• Making the Rights to Safe Water and Sanitation a Reality for All (14 March, 11:00)
• Water Infrastructure for Development in Large Countries (14 March, 17:00)
• Raising Additional “Grant” Funding for Water and Sanitation (15 March, 08:30)
• Water Scarcity in Arid Areas (15 March, 08:30)
• Water and Green Growth (15 March, 11:00)
• Water and Disasters (15 March, 14:00)
• Water, Food and Energy Nexus (16 March, 11:00)

14 Multistakeholder Panel sessions on the following themes:

• Decoupling economic growth from water resource use and impacts (13 March, 17:00)
• Groundwater: Can We Put the ‘Integrated’ in IWRM? (13 March, 17h00)
• Implementing the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation: Organisation and Action (13 March, 17:00)
• Scenarios and Models for Water Management: Contributions or Complications? (13 March, 17:00)
• Contribute to Cooperation and Peace through water (14 March, 17:00)
• Contribute to Food Security by Optimal Use of Water (14 March, 17:00)
• Sustainable Sanitation Services for All: How to Involve the Different Political Levels to Implement an Integrated Sanitation Chain Approach (14 March, 17:00)
• The WASH sector answer to humanitarian emergencies (14 March, 17:00)
• What is the Business Case that Water Can Help to Make Growth Green? (14 March, 17:00)
• Bridging the Gap Between Water Resources Management and the Implementation of Ecosystems Solutions: Towards Consensus and the Next Steps (15 March, 14:30)
• The Water and Energy Café (15 March, 14:30)
• Good Governance and Sustainable Financing: a Strong Nexus to Address (13 March, 17:00)
• Feedback from the Forum “A l’eau l’Afrique, A l’eau le monde!” in Africa from November 2011 to January 2012 (13 March, 17:00)
• Science, Technology and Policy for Better Water Governance (14 March, 17:00)

Discover more about our programme in our newsletter here below and consult our full programme on line www.worldwaterforum6.org or on your mobile devices.

On the path to Political Solutions

The Ministerial Conference, 13 March

This conference wil gather 120 ministerial delegations, working onto the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration. It will be preceded by 12 High Level Roundtables on: Adaptation to Climate Change, Financing Infrastructure , Green Economy/Green Growth, Implementation of the Right to Water and Sanitation, The Future of Water Desalination, Promoting Cooperation on Transboundary Waters, Wastewater Management, Water & Health, Water for Development in Africa , Water Security and Sustainability, Water, Energy, Food Nexus, and on Water-related Disasters. The morning roundtables are closed sessions but the afternoon conference is open to participants.

Available languages: French, English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin, Roumanian, Korean, Persian.

The Parliamentarian Conference, 15 & 16 March

The Parliamentarian Conference provides a unique platform for exchange and cooperation between legislators from all regions in the world, in consultation with international experts and practitioners working on a wide array of water development and management issues that address the 3 main priorities of the Forum: "Ensuring the Well-being of Everyone," "Contributing to Economic Development," and "Keeping the Planet Blue." The programme is composed of 2 parts: ”Time for Solutions” on Thursday 15 March (8:30am – 1:00 pm) and “D-Day for Commitments to face global water challenges” on Friday 16 March 2012 (8.30 am – 1.00 pm), with a special focus on the contributions and the role of Europe

Conference of Local and Regional Authorities for Water, 14 & 15 March 2012

Organised by the World Water Council and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), this 3rd international conference will address on the first day: progress from Istanbul to Marseille; Governance of water and sanitation services; Managing water in Megacities; Towards Better Regional Water Governance; and on day 2: Local Governance; Cooperation and International Solidarity; Solutions from Local and Regional Authorities for Water; and in its afternoon General Assembly: Water and Sustainable Development.

Regional Trialogues

6 Regional political Trialogues will adress how each level of government can help the other in their implementation of water solution. The Trialogue programme is composed of:

• Asia-Pacific Trialogue: Water Security of Urban Households (14 March, 11:00)
• Mediterranean Trialogue: Water Governance (14 March, 11:00)
• Americas Trialogue: Water for the Americas’ Economic, Social and Sustainable Development (14 March, 14:30)
• Arab Trialogue: Water and Energy (14 March, 14:30)
• Africa Trialogue: Transboundary Cooperation: International Legal Mechanisms (15 March, 08:30)
• Europe Trialogue: European Action for Worldwide Universal Access to Water and Sanitation: Fostering Mechanisms of Solidarity (15 March, 11:00)

Consult the political programme on line.

An eye on the Blue Planet

The regional process has prepared 59 sessions: 13 on Americas’ targets, 12 on Europe’s targets, 11 on Africa’s targets, including an Africa day on Wednesday 14 March, 10 on Mediterranean countries’ targets, 6 on Asia-Pacific’s targets, and 6 on Arab countries’ targets. Besides, each region also participate in a Trialogue.

Each newsletter has brought an eye on a specific region of the Planet. This 6^th newsletter brings us to Europe.

Europe is the continent that has the greatest number of transboundary rivers, lakes and aquifers. Many European countries have thus developed tools and techniques of effective water management at the level of large river basins and the level of community utilities.

The 12 Priorities and Targets of Europe today include:

1. Improve transboundary cooperation in Europe
2. Achieve a good ecological status of European water bodies by 2015
3. Adapt to long-term water challenges linked to climate change and prevent extreme phenomena
4. Develop a sustainable agriculture in Europe and better balance policies between food security and sustainable water management
5. Promote better coordination between transport and water policies in relation with inland navigation in Europe
6. Better coordinate the water and sustainable energy policies
7. Improve European drinking water and sanitation services

Consult the regional programme on line.

Grassroots & Citizenship

Besides exchanges with the thematic, regional and political Commissions that result in different key moments of the Forum, this commission propose a vast programme of activities in the Parc Chanot with 33 sessions, including a good number from youth initiatives and major groups, and 74 “Grassroots & Citizenship” projects, among which the House of Water and the Citizen, the World Youth Parliament, the Drylands & Oasis Space and fourteen photographs and art exhibitions.
Join us for the water art opening on March 14 at 10 am.

Together, out of the 199 labeled events, 140 “Grassroots & Citizenship” projects are performed in March 2012 before, during and shortly after the Forum, with divers water related events such as technical visits, the Wash United match, school projects and do on.
Consult the programme on line or on your mobile devices iPhone, Android, iPad

Invitation

Invitation

Invitation

Opening and photography exhibition promenade on Wednesday 14 March 2012 at 10 am in front of the Palais des Evénements

Consult the programme of activities online.

THE FORUM IS OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC ON SATURDAY 17 MARCH

Consult the programme of activities online.