PSBA-Manila DRM Unit Presents Research Poster in the WSI International Conference, WUR, the Netherlands
The International Conference “Water Science for Impact” (WSI) was held last October 16 to 18, 2018 at the Orion Building of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Wageningen, the Netherlands. This three-day International Conference brought together key international experts, scientists, policy makers, and stakeholders concerned with achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. The event coincides with WUR’s 100 Year celebration.
The event officially started on October 16 with a welcome by Prof. Dr. Carolien Kroeze of WUR. It was followedd by a keynote presentation “Water now and in the future. How do we change?” by Dr. Simon Langan of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) where he states that “we are already in a global water crisis that is rapidly intensifying and affecting economic development, food and energy security”.
After the keynote presentations on the first day, attendees are able to participate in back-to-back parallel sessions on various water-related topics such as “Water Governance and Management”, “Flood Risk Management”, and “Transnational City-t-City Learning to accelerate urban adaptation”. There were 20 parallel sessions spread over two time slots for the first day.
Then, attendees are able to view various research poster presentations on water science. The Philippine School of Business Administration – Manila (PSBA-Manila) Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Unit presented its poster “Science and Policy Framework for Urban Water Sufficiency during Extreme Weather Disastrous Impact: Adaptation Action Plan of Quezon City, Philippines” which discusses the Adaptation Action Plan of Quezon City on Water Sufficiency during extreme weather events through its DRM E-Learning Coordinator Mr. Ramon Iñigo M. Espinosa. There were seventy poster presentations from various international participants.
The second day, October 17, began with a welcome by Prof. Dr. Ir. Huub Rijnaarts followed by a keynote presentation “Addressing water and national security challenges” by Mr. Charles Iceland, Director of the Global And National Water Initiatives from the United States of America where he states that “many conflicts and migration patterns are water and climate driven”, and “climate, water and national security are interlinked”. His presentation was followed by another keynote presentation “Saving Water” by Prof. Rob Hamer, Vice President of Agri-Foods External Affairs, Unilever, The Netherlands who aims to “make sustainable living commonplace” and aims for making Unilever “zero footprint in food production by 2050”.
Additional parallel sessions for the second day include “Water Resources Management”, “Implementing flood-resilience on the local scale – when natural science and water engineering meets property rights”, and “Salt water intrusion and agricultural effects”. This day saw 31 sessions over three time slots. After lunch, attendees were encouraged to participate in a small excursion within WUR hosted by its professors on topics such as “Climate change in your backyard” which discussed how climate change was affecting the surroundings of WUR within the years. The second day concluded with the same poster session from the previous day.
The third and last day, October 18, started with back-to-back parallel sessions including “The water-energy-food-nexus: from concept to model”, “Assessing and managing water scarcity”, and “Science for policy making – how to bridge the worlds of science and policymaking?”. There were 22 sessions over two time slots. After lunch, the same excursion was attended by the conference participants on other topics including “Sustainable built environment” which showed examples of sustainable architecture found within WUR.
The final plenary session began with presentations began with a speech by Hon. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Works entitled “Water: working together for impact”. It was followed by another speech by Hon. Josan Meijers, the Vice Governor of the province of Gelderland on Spatial Planning, Water Management, and Culture “Cooperation between WUR and the province of Gelderland: Past, Present and Future”. The final keynote presentation was by Prof. S. Uhlenbrook on “Achieving SDG 6 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a rapidly changing environment” where he states that “we are in the right direction to achieve SDG 6, but we have to act faster”.
The event concluded with a wrap-up from Prof. Dr. Kroeze who provided a succinct summary from the various keynote presentations, parallel sessions, and poster presentations on Water Science for Impact. She highlighted inspiring views on water futures, optimistic scenarios for future water quality, promising examples of capacity building, and emphasized the need for strong leadership and governance.
To find out more about the event, you can visit the WSI conference website here: https://www.wageningenwaterconference.com/