WAT Research Group colleagues are invited to speak and participate in panel discussions in a special session titled, "Taking the pulse – A Water Security Diagnostics for the Danube Region."

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Participation of WAT researchers in this session links to their expertise and work on the current World Bank ECA Regional Water Security Initiative project. WAT colleagues will present information on the methodological approach for developing water security assessments on tools and assessments for the Danube. The panel discussion will reflect on the role of science in supporting the water security agenda and will allow for more detailed discussions on the relevance of Water Security analytical work for advisory work, reform and investment decisions. 

 

The objective of this special session at the Danube Water Conference is to provide information on the Water Security Conceptual Framework, related ongoing and upcoming analytical work targeting the Danube Region, as well as providing an example for already finalized work and how the results allow for a dialogue on important water sector development needs in a country. The aim is to generate interest and raise awareness for this important work under the Danube Water Program, which is a partnership program between the World Bank and the International Association of Water Service Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD).

 

The conference provides an international forum with the objective to share lessons learned and to discuss approaches on how to build a resilient and water secure Danube Region. This event will continue to focus on the water services sector, while also expanding the scope to the broader water management agenda, with experts and representatives from the region and beyond.

 

BACKGROUND
 

Water touches every aspect of development and is linked to nearly every Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). It drives economic growth, supports healthy ecosystems, and is essential and fundamental for life itself. However, remaining gaps in safe access to water supply and sanitation, changes in demography, more water-intensive patterns of social and economic growth, increasing rainfall variability, and pollution coupled with the impacts of climate change, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic are combining in many places to make water one of the greatest risks to economic progress, environmental protection and sustainable development not only globally but also in the Danube Region.

 

In that context, the Danube Water Program has extended its scope of activities, addressing issues related to “Water Security,” including water services delivery, water resources management and water-related risk mitigation in the context of socio-economic development, climate change, and implementation efforts for the water-related EU Acquis Communautaire.