A global dialogue platform for best practices and optimisation of multi-purpose water infrastructure. By Mark Smith, Director IUCN Global Water Programme Gland, Switzerland

by Jürgen Hofmann, IGB (Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries), D. Tuul, PSARI (Plant Science and Research Institute, Darkhan), and B. Enkhtuya, AUD (Agricultural Unviersity Darkhan)

by Ramón Llamas and Maite Aldaya, Consultants, UNEP, Water Observatory - Botin Foundation

by Rick Lawford, Senior Scientist, Morgan State University Associate, IISD, and Hank Venema VP, IISD

by Janos J. Bogardi, Executive Officer of GWSP

The World Water Week has been the annual focal point for the globe’s water issues since 1991.

This Workshop will address a series of innovative frameworks that help analyse technical solutions as well as trade-offs in the water-food-energy nexus for better informed decision-making.

This seminar will analyse how the water-food nexus is being affected by climate change in two of the more important mountain regions of the world: the Andes and the Himalayas. The seminar will review concepts, discuss relevant cases that address different dimensions of the water-food nexus and innovative approaches for dealing with depleting resources, as well as provide guidance to mitigate the impact of the vulnerable water-food nexus in developing regions.

Collecting inputs for the Bonn2011 Nexus Conference preparatory process

A voice from the ground, Edward Byers, PhD student from Newcastle/UK, gives his view of the NEXUS event at the German Pavilion in Rio.

The question of how to effectively use our water resources has been debated for decades, yet what we need more than ever is direct action at the field level.

The increasingly joined up thinking towards tackling water, energy and food challenges is apparent but more is needed to build advocacy among civil society, writes Rebecca Tharme

The global water crisis makes collaboration between business, NGOs and civil society essential for securing a sustainable, long term future for all. In Stockholm, 2,500 delegates have gathered for World Water Week to discuss the global water crisis and its effects on food security. Droughts and floods from America to Australia have devastated farms, frustrated civic leaders and caused food prices to skyrocket at a disturbing rate. Now companies are realising that water stewardship is both a moral imperative and makes smart business sense. With the world confronting a 40% gap between the planet’s supply and demand by 2030, the time to confront water scarcity is now.

As we sail down the road from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville in air-conditioned luxury, we can stare out of the mirrored windows at mile upon mile of dry rice paddy. It is the dry season, and the landscape is a dark brown, the paddies empty. My driver is a “bong tom”, a “big brother”, with a day job in a Cambodian ministry, a side job in the military, and a sluice of other business activities on the side. He is much wealthier than I am, and the car we’re in is the bong tom trademark, a Lexus GX SUV, with a 4.6 litre, V8 engine, painted in high-gloss black. Inside the car, the air conditioner has pushed the temperature down to a chilly 20 degrees. Outside it, a man in a conical hat walks alongside a pair of buffalo. The blades on the plough they’re pulling scratches at the hard earth. The Lexus is not a nexus. Or so I thought. But in December 2011, when we held our first Mekong Forum on Water, Food and Energy (W-F-E) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, our hosts stared at the term we were trying to introduce to them. Nexus.

A summary of the Stockholm Water Week’s discussions on the NEXUS on 28 August 2012.

Feeding 7 billion people whilst maintaining the health of natural ecosystems and livelihoods is a huge challenge and urgent solutions will be required. During the six day conference, IUCN and partners will look into and discuss possible answers and solutions to the growing water, energy and food security challenge. The yearly conference attracts over 2,000 participants, from government, private sector and civil society, who will put forward policy recommendations and concrete actions.