We hope you are as excited as we are to start exploring this year’s theme of ‘Blue-Green Deals with Integrated Solutions’ together with Minister of infrastructure and water management, Barbara Visser, Head of cabinet for First Vice-President of the European Commission, Diederik Samsom, Journalist, Ikenna Azuike and the CEO of Waternet, Roelof Kruize.
This opening session of the AIWW2021 Online Conference will further elaborate on this year’s theme by introducing the four subthemes:
Clean Water & Ecosystem Restoration
Reuse, recycle and Recover
Risk and Resilience
Community engagement and intersectional collaboration
These four subthemes will be discussed in an environment stressing both the challenges and the opportunities lying within the water sector, aiming to see how water can function as an enabler and accelerator of the achievement of the SDG’s targets. Initiatives taken by the Dutch Government towards knowledge and technology transfer will be presented, as well as measures regarding funding opportunities and water stewardship.
The opening session will also guide you through all the exciting upcoming events and sessions, and mention what collaborations and regional focuses we have on board. We will share our ideas on how these events and future AIWW target groups and community centric events can valuably assist towards the realization of the SDG’s 2 (Zero Hunger), 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities) and 13 (Climate Action).
This session will include the speakers: Rajiv Ranjan Mishra (Director General National Mission For Clean Ganga (NMCG), Ministry Of Jal Shakti, Government Of India), Kalpana Maraj (Masters student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town) and Avanti Pethe presenting three different abstracts.
Click on more information for the online conference on wetlands and rivers: restoration and management.
Urban water cycles, water service delivery systems and removal of pollutants
Nienke Koeman-Stein (KWR): Removal of organic micro-pollutants by recovered activated carbon from lactate production and drinking water production
Kees Roest (KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands): Circular Water 2050 – Impact and opportunities of a fully circular urban water cycle
Jim Wright (School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton): Area selection for post-hoc impact evaluation of the delegated management model of urban water service delivery in Kisumu, Kenya
Read here the abstract 'Area selection for post-hoc impact evaluation of the delegated management model of urban water service delivery in Kisumu, Kenya'.
Moderator of this session is Jan Peter van der Hoek (Waternet). This session will include the speakers: Juliette Kool (Department of Water Resources, Delft University of Technology,) Maitreyi Koduganti (Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru, India) and Roni Deitz (Community & Urban Resilience Planning Practice Lead for Arcadis).
Click on 'more information' to see the online conference.
Along the lines of several positive business cases, we will be discussing innovative future proof decentralized solutions where Dutch Water Sector has been working on local challenges in the United Kingdom (UK) and Spain.
One business case will focus on improving surface water quality in the UK in a very effective and low-cost way combined with continues water quality monitoring and therefore very efficient. The other business cases will discuss decentralized waste water treatment in Spain which leads to huge increase in availability of irrigation water.
This session is aimed for anyone working on or interested in utilities, regional water boards, water technology industry, industry (water users).
Spain
The case in Spain concerns the decentralized solution that Bluecon has focused on purifying wastewater through an innovative process without the aid of bacteria so that it can be discharged directly into surface water, or used directly for irrigation. In Spain there is a structural shortage of water for irrigation and at the same time only 13 percent of the waste water is reused. The solution is particularly suitable for smaller industrial and communal applications (agglomerations of up to 10,000 inhabitants). This solution fills an important niche in the water scarce Spain’
UK
Case LG Sonic:
Until now, water treatment has been focusing on in-plant treatment strategies, taking the quality of the intake water as a given and designing the treatment process based on this. As a result, the capacity and design of a water treatment plant needs to be upgraded as water resources deteriorate due to climate change and environmental degradation. In a holistic approach towards water treatment, the raw water reservoir or source is treated as part of the water treatment plant, which results in that water with a more stable water quality enters the treatment process in the plant. Through the installation of their MPC-Buoy, LG Sonic has been able to monitor water quality and treat the water against (harmful) algal blooms before the treatment process, resulting in raw water with lower levels of TSS, pH, BOD, Toxins and potential taste -and odour molecules. This webinar will focus on their application of the MPC-Buoy at South East Water in the United Kingdom.
Micropollutants from wastewater - From problem identification to solution
Speakers: Maarten Nederlof (Programme manager of the National Implementation Programme fort he removal of pharmaceuticals out of WWTP effluent.), Erik Roesink (NX Filtration’s founder Erik Roesink is professor at the University of Twente leading the chair Advanced Membranes for Aqueous Application) and Irene Wittmer ( leader of the platform waterquality).
The role of religion in tackling water and climate challenges around the world
As a follow up of the Amsterdam Agreement ‘Values-based action’ (AIWW 2019), we continue the critical conversations about the role of religion in water and climate challenges. The focus this time will be on: 1. What religious principles and values could contribute to our approach to tackling water challenges around the world? 2. How are religious leaders and communities currently contributing to managing water in times of climate change? 3. What additional potential contributions could religious leaders and communities make to managing water crises? 4. How to stimulate cooperation between religion, government, business and academia on shared issues related to water and climate change?
The conversations in this round table seek to deepen the recently published volume ‘Water in Times of Climate Change. A Values-driven Dialogue’, which goes beyond the usual and predictable analyses, by bringing religion and values into a discussion that is often dominated by technocratic solutions.
This book is built on a unique process of consultation which took heart, mind and body into account – a linkage of wisdom shared by academics, policy makers, and ordinary citizens. The narratives in the book reflect the processes, the realities and the advocacy for change much needed in today’s pandemic-riddled world of inequities. The theme of water is that of life itself. Intrinsic to all health: planetary, governance, and urban and rural human realities, water defines the essence of our lives and the imperatives of our individual and institutional accountability for today – and for a tomorrow.
Real time data-driven pathways for robust water systems
The first webinar of AIWW 2021 will be based on the topic: Water as a carrier of information: Harnessing the potential of data in digitalization in water.
Real time date-driven pathways for robust water systems: critical role of utilities, benefits and co-benefits. What are the real time data-driven mechanisms, pathways and tools to build resilient and robust water systems for utilities?
Balkan cities often share similar challenges related to sustainable water management. Regional Dutch Embassies and Dutch Enterprise Agency RVO identified two themes of interest for the Dutch water sector: flood risk management & wastewater management.
To assist further developments, Netherlands Water Partnership – NWP – initiated the Blue-Green City Dialogues, an online platform for linking the local governments of Western Balkan cities eager to implement sustainable water management initiatives & Dutch organizations with matching expertise.
During this session we will discuss the Blue-Green City Dialogues approach, talk about concrete case studies in Balkans, present project funding possibilities unlocked by Green Agenda, and invite more cities from the region to join NWP’s initiative.
This session is recommended for Dutch and international water organizations with affinity for the Balkan region. Also, for regional city administrations and Governmental organizations looking for ways to create opportunities and develop projects within the framework of the existing European policy.
Water scarcity for industries - What about the value of water?
The aim of this session is to share experience and vision of private sector on how to deal with water scarcity risks, in the right context, at the local level. We want to share how companies deal with the fact that the value of water differs per region and per user in a catchment? Best practices examples will be shared that illustrate their different approach.
This AGRO session marks an important point in the (private, public and research) of the water and food sectors to give form to the NL international ambition to increase water security and water safety in the world for people, plants and animals. The worlds food and agri systems, post covid, are working hard to deliver outcomes that are more sustainable, healthier and more inclusive than they are now.
This transition needs bold actions in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss and inequality. Rethinking our (re)use of water including our water system concepts is necessary in order to develop, situation unique, resilient and sustainable food system where tradeoffs, of water allocation, become visible. This session will firstly address a water system conceptually, then showcase a concrete case. Lastly three top AGRI companies will be asked to reflect on how the presented concepts as well as the implementation in a delta can be applied at company level with the aim in mind of produce food with more water security for people, nature and biodiversity.
All around the world we belong to a watershed, dependent on all tributary rivers and their constant flow. How we care for these rivers affects all life in the watershed. Therefore we would like to share perspectives on rivers in this online session. Li An Phoa shares her vision of Drinkable Rivers with focus on the Meuse in exchange with organizations from other rivers and see where their stories can become a confluence enriching eachother’s river visions. Although most watersheds never meet, their communities can!
How do you work together with innovative solutions to get a circular water system with resource management which is accepted by all?
With growing demand for resources and larger impact of our footprints, the need for circularity within our value chains is bigger than ever. This means that we need to make better use of our waste streams. But how do we design such a circular system, including all the parties that are involved throughout the chain? In this online session we delve into the issue with case studies on nutrient recovery, polymer production from wastewater and desalination and reuse of brine. We will discuss the ambitious intentions of a large EU program and how we tackle the challenges.
Climate Resilient Watershed Approaches for Urban Communities in Florida (USA) and the Netherlands
“Florida has more in common with the Netherlands than one might think”, may not be the first statement that comes to mind when we talk about flood control. The statement may be true for the large engineered coastal storm protection system the Dutch have constructed, including the Deltaworks. However, when it comes to river basin management in the Netherlands, watershed planning in Florida, the interplay between various interventions and scales as well as water governance, there is clearly more in common than might appear at first sight. It is key to understand how these institutions and landscape with or without solutions currently performs and how they will perform during future extreme weather events.
Recent studies like Miami Dade County’s Sea Level Rise Strategy, have taken a holistic approach to climate challenges, aiming to establish higher levels of community resilience by developing adaptation pathways with a focus on coastal nature based and inland watershed strategies to increase the performance of public space and reduce the likelihood of devastation and loss of life, and effectively help communities to better prepare to live with the water to come. The recent flood disaster in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands adds a timely factor to a comparison on the impact and response to climate related extreme weather events and how regional watershed planning will need to work to everyone’s advantage.
During this interactive session, the audience will take part in a multi-national, -state and -municipal comparison: how do we plan for or respond to the extreme, where do we need to improve and what is currently happening to drive improvements?
Decentralised water provisions, pharmaceutical waste removal and safe water
With Peter Scheer (Semilla Sanitation, Nijhuis Saur Industries): Decentralized water provision and water reuse in residential areas in a ‘Closed Loop Concept’, Nadine Boelee (Nijhuis Industries): Removing pharmaceutical compounds at the source and centralized to reus e wastewater effluent for irrigation purposes and Jen Banach (Wageningen University & Research): Safe and Save Water: Lessons learned and future endeavors.
Resilience affects all urban centers in the Americas, particularly those located in coastal areas. Best practices and strategies vary between countries and between varying states of economic and urban development. This session presents transformational cases of building urban, coastal resilience in the face of climate extremes e.g. heat stress and flooding, through the implementation of nature-based solutions.
This session is recommended for international resilience experts in the private, public, knowledge, and NGO sectors, as well as multilateral development banks, donors, and funders of resilience projects.
Water and Agrifood: Global challenges and local solutions
ontributions from: Jelle Beekma (Asian Development Bank (ADB), Bas Bruning (The Salt Doctors), Herman Mondeel (Witteveen+Bos), Luong Phuoc Vinh (Eurofins Sac Ky Hai Dang Co. Ltd.) & Rasoul D. Mikkelsen (Royal Eijkelkamp), and Jacqueline Barendse (Mekong Delta Business Platform) as moderator.
Starting with a regional sector overview by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the session then dives into 2-3 inspiring case studies by Dutch companies from a variety of Asian countries on water, food and ecosystems.
The second part of the session aims to bring a lively round table discussion based on key statements including representatives from leading businesses and organisations active and experienced in this space and in the region.
With Siddhart Seshan (KWR Water Research Institute, The Netherlands): Robust Wastewater Characterisation for the Development of a Biokinetic-Artificial Intelligence Hybrid Model to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions, Marjan Joris (iFLUX); Real time monitoring of groundwater flux creates insight in the complex water system of Romboutswerve Polder in Damme, Belgium and Christian Linnartz (RWTH Aachen University and DWI Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials): From Lab to Application: Flow-electrode Capacitive Deionization.
Click on more information for the online conference on Treatment and monitoring of water.
Water quality and species monitoring, efficient water use and data-led solutions
Moderator: Dragan Savic (Chief Executive Officer, KWR Watercycle Research Institute). This session will include the speakers: Funmi Eyeoyibo (Sun Union Development, Lagos, Nigeria), Michiel Zandt (KWR Water Research, the Netherlands) and Thomas Hes (Waternet/ Utrecht University, Faculty of Science, Department of Computer Science).
Click on 'more information' to see the online conference on water quality and species monitoring, efficient water use and data led solutions.
From dissociated approaches towards integrated practices
The second webinar of AIWW 2021 will be based on the topic: Leveraging the power of collaboration and multi-stakeholder engagement: enablers, challenges and way forward.
Preliminary speakers will be: Henk Ovink (Special Envoy to United Nations for Water, NL) and others.
Sustainable built environment and governance through actor-led processes
With Maj-Britt Quitzau (University of Aalborg) about the visual actor maps: widening the technical horizon towards added values, James P. Cooper (PE, ENV SP, CWO Arcadis) about Applying a proven framework to promote sustainability in natural and built water assets and Nanco Dolman (Royal Haskoning DHV) about Developing new Blue-Green futures: multifunctional infrastructure to address water challenges.
Click on 'more information' to see the online conference on Sustainable built environment and governance through actor led processes.
Afsluitdijk, excess sediment use and climate resilience
The moderator is Henk Ovink (Special Envoy for International Water Affairs). Jelle Mens (Project Director, managing the reinforcement of the Afsluitdijk on behalf of combination Levvel.) and Bas Reedijk (Coastal Engineering and Water Management department).
Burcu Yazici (Turkish Water Institute (SUEN), Istanbul/TURKEY): Smart Tools for Efficient Water Use and Water Reuse in Agriculture
Alex Van der Helm (Waternet): Artificial Intelligence for Wastewater Treatment – The development of a digital twin used to train a control optimization agent
Lluis Echeverria (Eurecat Technology Centre, Unit of Applied Artificial Intelligence and Universitat de Lleida): Artificial Intelligence for Wastewater Treatment – AI-agent- based service for optimal control
The role of landscape solutions in mitigating water resources stress
The session focusses on increasing global pressure on urban water resources exacerbated by climate change and rapid urbanisation. The session will present three case studies at different levels of implementation and scaling on the role of landscape solutions in mitigating water stress. One of the cases is from Vitenam where the mekong delta , a transboundary resource, is facing fresh water challenges due to land subsidence and sea level rise. Second case is from Kenya where water resources challenges coincide with urbanisation, economic development and changing rain patterns. The third case is from Ethiopia where institutional complexities, urbanisation, deforestation and erosion make the communication and decision-making on water resources a challenge.
These cases will be followed by a discussion and participant interaction through questions and answers.
With this thematical session AquaMinerals / Waternet introduces the topic of improved resource recovery. The goal is to clarify the steps that a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) has to take to produce a safe resource from its effluent. The Struvite Case in the Netherlands showed the difficulty of the process which took years. For licensing EU asks for an individual procedure for every WWTP. A uniform process for every WWTP is desired, and this session deepens the topic through presentations of case studies in the Netherlands, France en Germany and a panel discussion by various organizations that are connected to the wastewater sector.
Social inclusion in water management and climate adaptation
“Social inclusion is a key dimension in water management and climate adaptation. It contributes to more sustainable and equitable water solutions for both people and ecosystems. However, in practice, it is not always easy to conduct inclusive processes. Even more so when pressures on water resources rise. There is still much to learn and improve when it comes to social inclusion in the water sector. In this session we will dive deeper into the theme of social inclusion in water management and climate adaptation. Questions that will be discussed are: How are social inclusive processes conducted in water management and climate adaptation projects? What are the challenges and what are the lessons learned?“
Learn the latest technological innovations in industrial wastewater circularity as our panellists discuss projects at the forefront of recovering valuable resources from industry brines. Will ‘mining’ resources from industrial brine be key for Europe’s economic competitiveness? Join us to gain a new perspective of how opportunities in brine management could also be a contender for building climate resilience more globally.
Investing in Large-Scale NbS for Water and Adaptation. It ain’t that easy!
This session will explore 3 case studies where compelling NbS opportunities have been designed alongside financial and policy analysis. We will explore the opportunities and the challenges in the landscape examples as well as discuss vital issues related to bankability, grant funding and finding investors. How can we ensure that rhetoric meets action and that money actually flows to where we can make a difference?
This is the session where we wrap up all the ideas, experiences and initiatives discussed during AIWW2021 and shared in the different sessions together with the Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, the Director for Quality of Life in DG Environment, Veronica Manfredi, Journalist, Ikenna Azuike, the senior advisor for the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate on water, sanitation and hygiene, Cheryl Hicks and Director for Sustainable Business Development in Rabobank, Alain Cracau.
During the closing of the AIWW2021 Online conference, the Integrated Leaders Forum will present their action agendas or statements. This will also be a time to reflect on the future of AIWW on the road to Horizon 2030. We hope you join this session and take some time to process the insightful sessions and discuss concluding remarks together.
In this session we will also get to know the winner of the Sarphati Sanitation Challenge! Aqua for All, World Waternet and Accenture are proud to launch the first ever Sarphati Sanitation Challenge!
Since 2013, the Sarphati Sanitation Awards have sought to honour entrepreneurial contributions to the global sanitation challenge. This year, the Sarphati Sanitation Awards became into the Sarphati Sanitation Challenge, to support promising market-based sanitation solutions on their path to scale. Entrepreneurs who have a scalable and locally-embedded sanitation solution were called on to apply, in order to accelerate access to safe sanitation for all. The theme for this year’s Challenge is ‘Sanitation and Health’, which highlights how entrepreneurial solutions are bridging key gaps and finding opportunities along the sanitation-health nexus.
These are the finalists:
Aerosan (Nepal)
Aerosan is a social enterprise offering a design build-operate public toilet management solution through a network of pay-per-use, gender and disabled inclusive hygienic and modern facilities (known as HUBs) with an integrated waste-to-value solution and an evidence-base cleanliness protocol. The HUB model is built on key partnerships with local governments and with the Sanitation Workers Co-op, which is made up of 500 Dalit women living in informal settlements.
AKYAS (Jordan)
AKYAS innovated a new faecal sludge management value chain for non-sewered sanitation systems. Their solution aims to provide safe sanitation at low cost, recover resources from human waste in a hygienic, user-friendly approach, and prevent cross-contamination between human waste and the surrounding environment. AKYAS products generate additional financial flow at the back end of the service chain, by tapping into resource recovery from waste-derived products, such as organic fertiliser.
change:WATER Labs (US)
change:WATER Labs created iThrone, a waste-shrinking, drop-in toilet that flushes away human waste by evaporating it, extending safe, clean toilet access to communities with no plumbing. This approach tackles a key challenge of distributed sanitation, cutting down on collections by quickly shrinking waste inside the toilet itself. It does this in a way that is low-cost and good for the planet, converting waste into molecular water and power.
Mosan (Switzerland)
Mosan provides an ecological, inclusive, market-based sanitation system including a mobile urine-diverting dry-toilet. It is a stand-alone, easily deployable, replicable circular sanitation system, which is low tech, affordable and locally producible. Mosan’s strategy is to scale via social franchising, seeking to enable safe, feasible and accessible community-led sanitation services, thus maximizing its social, environmental and economic impact.
WASHKING (Ghana)
WASHKing makes, supplies and installs environmentally safe, accessible and affordable biodigester toilets for low-income and underserved urban households and institutions. The toilets aim to end open defecation and improve poor sanitation challenges in low-income urban communities in Ghana. The sustainable last-mile toilet distribution service uses pay-as-you-go technology, combining smart door-lock, adequate toilet facility and digital payment systems, to provide sanitation for low-income customers.