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According to the latest IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report (August 2021), “climate change is intensifying the water cycle”, which will bring more associated flooding and drought in many regions. In the face of the extreme flooding, drought and fire events that 2021 and 2022 brought so far, responsible for casualties and extensive material damage worldwide, it is becoming increasingly evident that climate uncertainty is hindering the task of developing adequate adaptation policies.

The Conference aims at bridging the gap between science, policy and decision-making to support effective resilience building. Its focus goes beyond vulnerability and climate risk assessments, addressing challenges in fast-tracking and scaling up innovative adaptation solutions, climate funding, and the emerging role of citizen participation and open science. This solution-oriented event will follow up on the discussions of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, by linking scientists, practitioners and decision-makers to support the development of resilient water management policies.

The main objectives of the Conference are to:

• Introduce participants to the technical and practical impacts of climate change enhanced hydro-climatic hazards, with a special emphasis on droughts and floods, though a presentation of novel methodologies applied in worldwide case studies
• Highlight the critical role of citizen science and open science for effective adaptation to the impacts of those hazards
• Bridging the gap between the scientific community and decision-makers from different levels in climate-risk management issues
• Provide the necessary tools to leverage institutional capacity needed to support adaptation and resilience building
• Follow up on the discussions of the UN 2023 Water Conference, held in March, regarding hydro-climatic resilience
• Contribute to the implementation of the Strategic Plan of the 9^th Phase of IHP and the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science

The members of the Conference's Steering Committee aim to provide expertise on the content and topics of interest related to the event. They also oversee the conception of the Conference, including the programme and selection of papers and posters.

Members

• Wouter Buytaert - Researcher, Imperial College of London
• Magali García Cárdenas - Researcher, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés
• Piet Kenabatho - Professor, University of Botswana
• Toshio Koike - Executive Director, International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management under the auspices of UNESCO
• William Logan - Director, International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management
• Gabriel Mancilla - Director, Centro del Agua para Zonas Áridas y Semiáridas de América Latina y el Caribe
• John Matthews - Executive Director, Alliance for Global Water Adaptation
• Anil Mishra - Chief of Section of Hydrological Systems, Climate change and Adaptation, Water Sciences Division, UNESCO
• Lars Ribbe - Professor,  Institute for Innovation and Technology
• Mojtaba Shafiei - Researcher, East Water &  Environmental Research Institute
• Justin Sheffield - Researcher, University of Southampton
• Ann Van Griensven - Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
• Koen Verbist - Programme Specialist, Water Sciences Division, UNESCO

This solution-oriented event will follow-up on the discussions held at the 2023 United Nations Water Conference.

The conference builds up upon the efforts of the project "Enhancing Climate Services for Improved Water Management" (CliMWaR), which aims to provide reliable climate services to monitor and forecast droughts and floods at the local level to improve national risk management strategies and to lower the impact of water-related hazards on vulnerable communities through improved communication and outreach in pilot regions of LAC and Africa, with particular attention to climate change vulnerabilities.

Past event:

International Expert Symposium "Drought Management. Creating a Community of Practice in Drought Management Tools" (2014)

19-21 November 2014, Santiago, Chile

• Koen Verbist
  
  k.verbist@unesco.org 
• Rita Marteleira
  
  r.marteleira@unesco.org
• Paulina M. Ramírez Quevedo
  
  pm.ramirez-quevedo@unesco.org