New Water Policy and Practice Volume 1, Number 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 87

New Water Policy and Practice

2015
World Water Forum – Korea

T

he World Water Forum is a large-scale international conference that is held every
three years since 1997 in cooperation with the public, private sectors, academia,
and industries. It was first launched in an effort to facilitate international discussions
on global water challenges. Under the theme of 'Water for Our Future,' the 7th World
Water Forum took place in Daegu & Gyeongbuk of Korea. At a time when the UN
Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 is due to expire and the Sustainable
Development Goals should be established, the 7th World Water Forum aimed at
drawing more actions to tackle water challenges.
Some interesting approaches were applied in the planning of this World Water Forum.
In a plenary before the Forum, participants were asked to discuss in small groups of
3-4 people how to make the 7th Forum different from previous Fora and what was
necessary for successful “implementation.” In the discussion, participants suggested
that the Forum must cover not only the water field, but also non-water fields such as
commerce and trade, energy, and IT. It was also noted that particular effort should also
be made to open the door to citizens and non-water experts so that the general public
can gain awareness of the importance of water issues in order to more easily modify
their behaviors. In addition, it was felt that the Forum should encourage the setting of
realistic goals and establish a system to continuously feed back into the implementation
process. Rather than one single approach, the Forum should be designed in an
interactive and dynamic way, privileging dialogue over presentations. Therefore, the
presentation forms, gender composition, and opportunities for experience will need
to be diversified and expanded. In particular, expanding participation, monitoring
implementation, and organizing an interactive Forum should be reflected in the actual
design of the 7th World Water Forum.
We look forward to hearing from readers of New Water Policy and Practice Journal
that attended the 7th World Water Forum and how these initiatives were received by
the participants.
Further information can be obtained on: http://eng.worldwaterforum7.org/main/
3rd International Conference on Water and Society: 15-17 June 2015, Coruna, Spain

C

ivilizations have over the centuries relied on the availability of clean and inexpensive
water supplies. However, as the need for water continues to increase due to the
pressure from an increasing global population demanding higher living standards, this
can no longer be taken for granted. Agriculture and industry, major users of water, are at
the same time those that contribute to its contamination. Water distribution networks
86