The Pan-European Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 2023 UN Water conference took place as a hybrid meeting on 12-13 April 2022 and Water Europe, among 250 other participants coming from governments, NGOs, academia, UN system and intergovernmental organizations, had the opportunity to share important insights on the Water-Oriented Living Labs and the innovative projects that will take the WOLLs concept further.
The conference provided a platform for UNECE member States and stakeholders to review progress and showcase effective ways to implement the goals and objectives of the International Water Action Decade, and water-related goals in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As Mr Gilbert Houngbo, the UN-Water Chair said “There is a not a single major global challenge that does not involve water. This includes migration, conflict, disease, hunger, gender equity, population growth, urbanization, and climate change”. The event brought forward a number of key issues such as equitable access to water and sanitation, pollution prevention, ecosystem and biodiversity conservation, climate change management and resilience, water governance, management and protection of groundwater, and acceleration of progress through financing and innovation.
Durk Krol, WE Executive Director was invited to talk about the importance of the Water-Oriented Living Labs in the implementation of a Water-Smart Society. Durk seized this opportunity to refer to the EU-funded projects where the WoLLs concept is applied and plays a significant role. The projects are iWays, WATER-MINING, B-Water Smart, MULTISOURCE, AquaSPICE, TransformAr, NEXOGENESIS, ARSINOE and Water4All.
Participants of the conference repeatedly reaffirmed the need for accelerated progress toward the achievement of SDGs and the key role water can play in this respect and emphasized that water should be the “deal-maker”, the leverage point for a green economy, climate resilience and a more sustainable and inclusive world.
To find all the event’s presentations, please click here.
For more detailed information, please read the article.
