Expert Panel at GFFA // BLUE PLANET Berlin Water Dialogues: Sustainable Solutions for Water and Food Production

The event will introduce and discuss approaches for innovative sustainable solutions addressing tensions between the increase needed in food production to feed the world’s population and the ever worsening water crisis happening in many parts of the world resulting from overexploitation and climate change. These approaches will fall under three main aspects, which are:

• Integrated (nexus) strategies for linking food security and sustainable management of water resources
• Increasing effectiveness and efficiency of water management in agricultural irrigation
• Low-cost and practical solutions for waste water treatment and preparation of waste water for use in agriculture

These three aspects tie in perfectly with the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture’s (GFFA) slogan for 2017 “Agriculture and Water – Key to Feeding the World”. At the event, aimed at participants from politics, industry, the scientific community and civil society, there will be presentations on the GFFA topic from distinguished international and German experts followed by a moderated panel discussion on important aspects of water resources management.

Cooperation Partners

German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB);
Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises;
Messe Berlin GmbH

Project Office

German Water Partnership e.V.

Moderation

Christoph Urbschat

Panelists

• Alfonso Gutierrez-Teira, Policy officer Water and Sustainability, Unit “Environment, Forestry and Climate change”, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission

• Giovanni Munoz, Lead Technical Officer “Water Management”, TCIC-Investment Center, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Focus: Scenario planning as tool for the analysis of the Water-Land-Energy Nexus

• Prof. Sami Sayadi, Center of Bio-Technology of Sfax (CBS), Tunesia
• Thilo Burkard, AKUT Umweltschutz Ingenieure und Partner
• Lena Horlemann, Inter3 GmbH

Programme

3:30 pm	Opening Welcoming words Dr Helge Wendenburg, Director General Water Management, Resource Conservation, Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) Dr Jürgen Varnhorn, Head of Unit Industry, Life Science, Building Economy, Energy Technology, Mobility, Senate Dapartment for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, Berlin Keynote – Water, food and consumer behaviour: Societies’ New Normals Prof. Jan Lundqvist, Senior Scientific Advisor, Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI)
3:45 pm	Short presentations followed by a panel discussion Giovanni Munoz, Lead Technical Officer Water Management, TCIC-Investement Center, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Alfonso Gutierrez-Teira, Policy Officer Water and Sustainability, Unit Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission (tbc) Olive Mill Wastewater Treatment and Valorization Prof. Sami Sayadi, General Director, Laboratory of Environmental Bioprocesses, Center of Bio-Technology, Sfax, Tunisia Practical Aspects on Water Reuse in Agriculture Thilo Burkard, Managing Director, AKUT Umweltschutz Ingenieure und Partner und Partner Addressing Challenges of Land and Water Management in Iran Lena Horlemann, Researcher, inter 3 GmbH
5:25 pm	Wrap-up Thomas Stratenwerth, Head of Division, General, Fundamental, International and European Aspects of Water Management, Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)

About GFFA

The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) is an international conference that focuses on central questions concerning the future of the global agri-food industry. It gives representatives from the worlds of politics, business, science and civil society an opportunity to share ideas and enhance understanding on a selected topic of current agricultural policy. The GFFA 2017 will be held on the subject: "Agriculture and Water – Key to Feeding the World” in Berlin from 19 – 21 January 2017.