Join us for the most important World Water Week ever!

World Water Week 2021 is unlike any other week in our 30-year-old history. In 2021 people across the world are really beginning to understand the gravity of the situation we are facing – within a decade we must halve carbon emissions, restore the degraded natural world, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. This will require massive transformations of all sectors of society. World Water Week 2021 is entirely focused on the role of water for these transformations and on developing real solutions.

We hope you want to join us on this journey – you can still sign up for World Water Week, it is free and gives you access to more than 400 sessions on a broad range of water issues. Check out the full programme and register here. You can also purchase a Networking Pass so that you can actively engage with participants from 170 countries and leading experts from major international organizations, universities, and companies. With a Networking Pass you get a visible profile at the event and can actively contribute to change. It is a great way to expand your network and meet interesting people who might otherwise never cross your path.

• There are 84 different sessions for you to choose between today, starting at 7am CEST. Whatever you’re interested in, there should be something for you. Browse the programme and take your pick.
• The Opening plenary (3pm CEST), led by Alok Jha from the Economist. You get to meet SIWI’s Executive Director Torgny Holmgren and head of World Water Week Henrika Thomasson. To help us understand what the Week is really about, we have a line-up of stellar speakers on different topics. Professor Johan Rockström presents a keynote on water’s crucial role in climate change. The UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed is a leading force behind the global Sustainable Development Goals and now she reports on the current situation. The 2021 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate Sandra Postel speaks passionately about how communication can help us address the freshwater crisis. We also meet the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation, Per Olsson Fridh, Mark Feierstein from USAID as well as Kumi Naidoo and Nicki Becker from Sanitation and Water for All.
• This year we focus a lot on Communication and Behavioural Change, look for sessions with that tag in the programme to find this Accelerator that we have developed together with the Grundfos Foundation. Today you should check out Why is effective communication important for water (at 9.30am and 5.30pm CEST) and make sure not to miss the inspiring content More than words (12pm CEST).
• The other Accelerator is Leadership in Business, co-created with the Government of the Netherlands. Today you can learn about Using Holistic Thinking to be Water Positive by 2030 (10.45am and 6.45pm CEST).
• SIWI’s Scientific Programme Committee is organizing nine three-part seminars during the Week to further explore this year’s theme Building Resilience Faster. Today you can follow the first part of all nine seminars:
  • Information, governance, and justice for climate resilience;
  • Breaking Silos. Climate action across sectors and boundaries;
  • Navigating uncertain waters, shifting powers, sharing values;
  • Private sector and resilience in uncertain times;
  • Urban water resilience, from utopia to reality;
  • Water in health and climate crises;
  • Water for inclusive health and food security;
  • Climate finance for a green Covid-19 recovery; and
  • Navigating multiple crises. Between adaptation and mitigation.

Another way to better understand what building resilience faster really means is to check out the talk show SIWI Corner on the topic, at 9am CEST.

If you have registered for World Water Week 2021 you should have received a welcome email – if not, please check the spam folder of your inbox. Still no sign of a registration email (though you are sure that you did register)? Contact us at wwweektickets@siwi.org.

With the link in the registration confirmation, you can easily upgrade to get a Networking Pass if you don’t already have one. Not registered yet? Sign up here.