The Bonn Water Network*) cordially invites you
to join a virtual event on the occasion of World Water Day 2021
to be held on March 23, 2021, 17:00 CET – 18:30 CET

Please register via zoom here: https://uni-bonn.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1Le-D_2uSy2gGMTVFBgNOQ

World Water Day 2021: Valuing Water

World Water Day became a UN observance day in 1993. On March 22 every year, people and organizations around the world mark World Water Day by taking action to tackle the global water crisis. World Water Day 2021 focuses on the theme ‘Valuing Water’. This focus extends beyond issues of pricing and includes the environmental, social, and cultural value people place on water.

Book launch  

Danilo Türk (former president of Slovenia and Geneva Water Hub), Margaret Deignan (Springer Nature), and Janos Bogardi (editor) will officially launch The Handbook of Water Resources Management Discourses, Concepts and Examples’ (published by Springer, 2021). This multi- and interdisciplinary publication aims at facilitating communication and dialogue between actors of the international community involved in water resources management, discourses and multi-level decision-making processes. It provides the reader with facts, theories, methods and practical illustrations from a wide array of disciplines with relevance to water resources management, including hydrology, geology, geophysics, law, ethics, economics, ecology, engineering, sociology, and diplomacy

Round table discussion

Several authors of the handbook and members of the Bonn Water Network will highlight how their contributions refer to the World Water Day’s topic of ‚valuing water‘. Zita Sebesvari (UNU- EHS) will explain how different drivers, pressures and stressors challenge the value of water. Bernhard Tischbein (ZEF) will explore how to value water for the environment in a context of high demand and negative environmental impacts of water use for irrigation. Ines Dombrowsky (DIE) will explain the role and effectiveness of river basin organizations in mediating different water needs and values. Mahsa Motlagh (Bonn Alliance)) will explore how emerging digital technologies can contribute to better valuing water in sustainable governance approaches.

Program in brief 

*) The Bonn Water Network consists of ten renowned institutions with longstanding experience on water and related issues: the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC); Bonn University with its Institute of Geography (GIUB) holding the UNESCO Chair in Human Water Systems, the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health (IHPH); the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE); the IUCN Environmental Law Center, the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and three Bonn-based UN institutions: the United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) and the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Global Water Operators Partnerships Alliance (UN-Habitat/GWOPA).

Contact for questions regarding content of this event:
Speaker of the network: Annabelle Houdret (DIE): Annabelle.houdret@die-gdi.de and
co-spokesperson: Luna Bharati (IWMI): L.bharati@CGIAR.ORG

Please note: The event will be recorded and published online afterwards on the websites of the Bonn Water Network partners.