World Water Week in Stockholm saw a variety of panels and workshops taking place during the event , which was attended by more than 3 000 visitors , exhibitors , and delegates .
the lack of water was the root cause of poverty and inequality , since , “ Only in sub-Saharan Africa do women and girls spend 40-billion hours a year collecting water , equivalent to a year ’ s worth of labour by the entire workforce in France .”
Carin Jämtin , director general of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency , pointed out the relationship between poverty , conflicts , and lack of clean water , saying that in those countries in conflict , water tensions increase and that “ the access to clean water is denied as tactic or as a weapon of war ”.
Two threads that ran throughout the event were collaboration and the breaking down of silos . The water sector is well known for running projects in parallel , with little to no communication between the ‘ silos ’. Right from the opening plenary , the call went out to break this mindset and to collaborate more .
Another theme during World Water Week 2018 stressed that more naturebased solutions are urgently needed to avoid a global water crisis and how they can be combined with conventional practices . The message was clear : a combination of ‘ green ’ and grey approaches is the only way forward .
In this vein , Professors Bruce Rittmann ( one of the two Stockholm Water Prize winners , the other being Mark van Loosdrecht ) explained how their research on environmental biotechnology has revolutionised water treatment : “ Microorganisms live in water and when we use microorganisms , we are making water a key part of the solution to many of our environmental challenges ,” he said .
“ Our take-away is that naturebased solutions do work ,” commented Andrea Erickson from The Nature Conservancy , after experiencing showcases from around the world .
Some of the sessions
With an average of 15 sessions running concurrently during oneand-a-half-hour stints , and almost 300 sessions throughout the week , Water Sewage & Effluent was hardpressed to report on every aspect of the event , but nevertheless , here is an idea as to the diversity of subject matter covered :
• Within the 238 sessions , founder and CEO of CityTaps , Grégoire Landel , presented an innovative solution to bring affordable running water at home to an estimated one-billion people in the developing world . Partnering with Veolia Africa and Orange Niger , and with support from Verizon and the GSMA , CityTaps intends to scale its solution and expand its product into new markets .
• Circle of Blue drew attention to the dire state of the world ’ s innovations industry debate environment infrastructure municipalities
“ Anyone with knowledge has an obligation to act .” Mayor of Stockholm , Karin Wanngård
Stockholm city sits on a series of waterways and islands and hosts the internationally supported World Water Week each year . contributor networking
Water Sewage & Effluent September / October 2018 31
“Anyone with knowledge has an obligation to act.”
Mayor of Stockholm, Karin Wanngård
Stockholm city sits on a series
of waterways and islands and
hosts the internationally supported
World Water Week each year.
Water Sewage & Effluent September/October 2018
31
innovations
With an average of 15 sessions
running concurrently during one-
and-a-half-hour stints, and almost
300 sessions throughout the week,
Water Sewage & Effluent was hard-
pressed to report on every aspect of
the event, but nevertheless, here is
an idea as to the diversity of subject
matter covered:
• Within the 238 sessions, founder
and CEO of CityTaps, Grégoire
Landel, presented an innovative
solution to bring affordable
running water at home to an
estimated one-billion people in
the developing world. Partnering
with Veolia Africa and Orange
Niger,
and
with
support
from Verizon and the GSMA,
CityTaps intends to scale its
solution and expand its product
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