EWRI Participates in 2002 Stockholm Water Symposium

The Stockholm Water Symposium

The Stockholm Water Symposium is a meeting on global water issues convened during the World Water Week in Stockholm each August to develop practical solutions and strategies that will help to alleviate the world water crisis.

Since 1991 the Symposia have identified and analyzed related issues and their origins, key measures needed and how different barriers can be overcome. The Stockholm Water Symposia have promoted an understanding of global water problems and involved thousands of engineers, scientists, young professionals, business leaders, politicians, administrators, academics, NGO and civil society representatives, and many others. The findings from the Symposia are brought to the attention of policy makers and the public, and integrated into project initiatives to transfer knowledge and carry it further.

With more than 900 delegates from 97 countries, the 2002 Stockholm Water Symposium about "Balancing Competing Water Uses - Present Status and New Prospects" was the last successful major global water forum before the UN development summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. It concluded with a united Stockholm Statement explaining water's role as an engine for development and intended for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa and the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan in 2003. Experts and stakeholders in Stockholm analyzed water use issues, discussed how to go from "knowing" to "doing," and presented examples of water balancing in practice.

Water Associations Worldwide Seminar

Water Associations Worldwide (WAW), a global network of working water quality practitioners including environmental engineers and scientists, held a seminar in Stockholm August 11, 2002 as an element of the Stockholm Water Symposium. The WAW emphasizes that water professionals are integral to the building of successful sustainability programs.

The WAW theme was to present the link between water engineering and science professionals and policy makers in the implementation of the integrated water resources management approach for sustainable development. The seminar focus was on management of water as the key to socio-economic development and its linkage to other development factors.

At the WAW seminar, EWRI Governing Board Member Dale Jacobson represented the Environmental & Water Resources Institute and presented a paper regarding "Integrated Water Resources Management". Other presenters represented the European Water Association, the International Water Association, the Australian Water Association, the Interamerican Association of Sanitary & Environmental Engineers, and the Water Environment Federation.

Stockholm Statement Sends Symposium's Message to Johannesburg

Participants came to agreement on the key principles in the 2002 Stockholm Statement, which is concluding the 1998-2002 Symposium niche of "Water: The Key to Socio-Economic Development and Quality of Life."

The four key principles sent to the World Summit on Sustainable Development were:

• Water users must be involved in the governance of water resources.
• We must now break the link between economic growth and water degradation.
• Urban water services are crucial for urban stability and security.
• Policy, planning and implementation must move towards integrated solutions.

Based on these four principles, major organizations at the Symposium issued a statement to be used as an editorial article in newspapers around the world.