Arup and SIWI sign Öresund Agreement
Karin Gardes, Acting Executive Director, SIWI (L) and Dr. Mark Fletcher, Global Water Leader for Arup; signing the agreement. Arup and SIWI have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU). The agreement builds on their long-standing partnership and will allow both organizations to work even more closely together to champion water solutions for a more sustainable future.
SIWI and Arup have signed the Öresund Agreement and entered a new stage of their partnership. At World Water Week 2023, both institutions signed a MOU that will run from August 2023 to August 2026. The agreement aims to bring water “to the forefront of the global climate and nature conversations” as well as to promote “sustainable water governance and solutions.”
A new chapter
Reflecting on the agreement, Dr. Mark Fletcher, Global Water Leader for Arup, said, “I am delighted that we have formalised Arup’s strategic partnership with SIWI. We have been working closely with SIWI for many years and it has been a delight to see our relationship develop and flourish, particularly around World Water Week which continues to go from strength to strength.”
SIWI’s Acting Executive Director Karin Gardes said, “Arup is and has for a long time been a key and trusted partner for SIWI. We have a history of very successful collaboration in a range of projects, which range from resilient cities to global policy. We are thrilled to now enter the next strategic chapter of our partnership.”
Bringing water to the forefront
World Water Week, collaboration in specific projects, and global policy forums make up the main components of the MOU. At World Water Week, SIWI and Arup support the meaningful participation and engagement of young people in the conference. Arup has for several years been a youth engagement partner at the conference and amongst other things supported young people in joining World Water Week while also holding youth targeted events.
“I am delighted that we have formalised Arup’s strategic partnership with SIWI. We have been working closely with SIWI for many years and it has been a delight to see our relationship develop and flourish, particularly around World Water Week which continues to go from strength to strength.”
The second focus of the MOU is project cooperation. A prominent example of such cooperation is the City Water Resilience Approach (CWRA), which was co-developed by Arup and SIWI together with the Resilience Shift and Resilient Cities Network, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. The open-source approach has been applied in a range of cities and regions and SIWI and Arup have jointly delivered it in Cape Town and Miami. Within the frame of the MOU, SIWI and Arup will together use their expertise to explore projects and pilots to further support countries, regions, and cities in sustainable water governance.
Influencing global policy marks a last major focus on the MOU. Ever since COP20 in Lima, Arup and SIWI have worked closely together to highlight the importance of water in the global policy space. This cooperation has continued and deepened throughout the years, most recently at COP27 in Egypt and the United Nations 2023 Water Conference. SIWI and Arup aim to further build on this cooperation at upcoming global policy events such as COP28 in Dubai.
