The Oxford Water Network at World Water Week

Oxford University will be active at this year’s World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden on 23-28 August 2015, with several presentations and an Oxford Water Network booth.

water and development

The annual World Water Week is widely considered ‘the’ place to be for researchers, business, decision-makers and practitioners interested in global water issues. This year’s theme is Water for Development and the event takes place just weeks before world leaders adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the successors of the Millennium Development Goals.

The theme is timely for us, given the recent launch of our global seven-year programme REACH which addresses water security risks in Africa and South Asia, specifically targeting the poor.

We will also be sharing insights from our Smart Water Systems research which designs and tests new mobile technologies and institutional models to transform water resource management and water service delivery in Africa.

The Stockholm International Water Institute’s report Water for Development – Charting a Water Wise Path frames the challenge. It argues that getting water management right is a prerequisite for sustainable development. Experts reflect on wide-ranging topics, such as the dedicated water SDG, reducing the risk of disasters, and the role of Information Communications Technology (ICT) for water and development.

Dr Rob Hope, Director of the Water Programme at the Smith School for Enterprise, will be leading a session on sustainable finance for universal rural water services, alongside UNICEF, the mobile operators network GSMA, the world’s largest pump manufacturer Grundfos Ltd and a water supply company in Rwanda.

An Oxford Water Network booth (located at G3 on the map) will provide a hub for people to meet and find out more about water research and education at Oxford University. If you are in Stockholm, then do come along and meet our researchers at the booth! A number of themed informal discussions have been scheduled.

Download the programme of presentations by Oxford University researchers.

Download the full schedule of activities at the Oxford University booth.

Follow World Water Week on twitter with the hashtag #wwweek and follow our activities via @oxfordwater and @reach_water

Watch the video One Water – for Sustainable Development

Schedule of presentations

Sunday 23 August

11:00-12:30, Room FH 300
Implementing the SDGs in the post-2015 development agenda
Convenors: GWP, Stockholm International Water Institute, UN-Water
Patrick Thomson presenting Implementing, monitoring and financing the water SDG in rural Africa

14:00-15:30, Room FH 300
Implementing the SDGs in the post-2015 development agenda
Convenors: GWP, Stockholm International Water Institute, UN-Water
Dr Katrina Charles presenting Can shared sanitation in slums be adequate sanitation?

Tuesday 25 August

9:00-10:30, Room FH Little Theatre
Eye on Asia: taking actions for a water secure Asia
Convenors: Asia Pacific Water Forum, Asian Development Bank, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, World Wide Fund for Nature
Dr Katrina Charles presenting Reducing water security risks for the poor

9:00-10:30, Room NL Music Hall / Musiksalen
Sustainable finance for universal rural water services
Convenors: University of Oxford, Grundfos, UNICEF, GSMA
Dr Rob Hope will lead a session providing new evidence of models that advance sustainable finance in Africa.
Tim Foster presenting Mobile water payment systems

11:00-12:30, Room NL 357
Information technologies for a smarter water future
Convenors: @aqua, Akvo Foundation, DHI, Stockholm International Water Institute
Patrick Thomson presenting Distributed monitoring of shallow aquifer level using community handpumps
This presentation will also be part of the interactive poster exhibition in the FH Congress Hall Foyer. Poster presenters will be available for questions during the coffee breaks at 10:30-11:00 and 15:30-16:00

Wednesday 26 August

9:00-10:30, FH Congress Hall B
Water as a driver for sustainable development and poverty eradication
Convenors: Stockholm International Water Institute, The World Bank Group, WaterAid, We Effect
Johanna Koehler presenting Pump-priming payments for sustainable water services in rural Africa.

Thursday 27 August

14:00-15:30, Room FH 307
(Re)thinking governance
Convenors: University of Nebraska, Stockholm International Water Institute, UNDP Water Governance Facility, Water Integrity Network
Johanna Koehler presenting Can decentralisation improve water security and promote equitable post-2015 development?

Schedule of activities at the booth

Monday 24 August

10:30-11:00
Groundwater risk, growth and development
Dr Rob Hope and Patrick Thomson

11:00-14:00
REACH: Improving water security for the poor
Dr Rob Hope and Dr Katrina Charles

14:00-15:30
Smart Handpumps
Patrick Thomson and Johanna Koehler

Tuesday 25 August

15:30-16:00
Meet the DPhils
Johanna Koehler, Tim Foster, Julian Kirchherr

Wednesday 26 August

14:00-17:30
MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management (WSPM) alumni

Thursday 27 August

14:00-16:00
Applying to Oxford University

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