The Forum has been postponed further to April 2021. See more information here.

Background

Water lies at the heart of life and well-being, yet it is a finite resource which is quickly outpaced by the global demand in rapid growth. The UN SDG 6 aims at “availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”, prioritising the importance of water security and sustainability in the societal and environmental welfare. However, such welfare is challenged by the current water availability. On a global scale, more than two billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress. In China, 30% of its land area is suffering from high or extremely high water stress. About two thirds of Chinese cities are having problems sustaining sufficient water supply. Therefore properly managed water has a major stake in the future. Global changes are bringing immensely profound impacts to the earth system and hence the future.

Under a warming climate, extreme events like floods and droughts are staged at an increased intensity and frequency. The rising sea level poses major threat of coastal flooding, and impacts estuary systems drastically. These changes also stagger the ecological systems with symptoms such as biodiversity loss and rapid degradation. The success and resilience of water management is highly dependant on our technical innovations and institutional capacities. We need to change our ways of thinking, living and managing to adapt to such global changes.

In 2015 and 2017, two Forums on water security and sustainability have been held in Nanjing, attracting attention of researchers both in China and around the world. Hence, YICODE, HHU and NHRI, sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Engineering, are proudly announcing the 3rd Forum of the series in 2020 to continue our discussion on water security and sustainability. We sincerely hope this could provide an open, frank, productive and multi-disciplinary forum for researchers and practitioners in the field. Researchers and practitioners around the globe are welcome to take part in the two-day discussion from cross-cutting perspectives.

Topics

• Climate change and adaptation
• Flooding and flood risk management
• Water saving and water security
• Aquatic eco-systems and rehabilitation
• Groundwater protection and sustainable development
• River conservation and green development
• Safety and resilience of water infrastructures

Time & venue

The Forum will be held in Nanjing, China on 16 to 19 November 2020. More details of venue and programmes will be announced later.

Call for abstracts

We are inviting researchers and practitioners around the world in the water sector to submit abstracts for presentation (in English, no less than 500 words). Please see the official website for more guidelines for submission. The submission system will be open until 15 July 2020.

Contact

Email: estds@nhri.cn
Official website: https://estds.yicode.ac
Contact: Chunhui Lu, David Zhou