Adapting Governance and Infrastructure for Water Resilience

Event Type
Panel discussion

Location / Date
Bonn, 23.05.2023

Bonn Water Network

Climate change causes an increase in extreme weather events in many countries of the world. This has drastic impacts for instance on food security, infrastructure and health, and challenges the very basis of human development. Many countries are experiencing such challenges for a long time, but events such as the 2021 floods in Germany’s Ahr-valley, only about 50 km from Bonn, show that we need to adapt here in Europe, too. The special event focuses on water resilience as a comprehensive approach that includes engineering resilience in water supply infrastructure, but also more integrative and ecologically‐centered approaches and institutional and governance dimensions. The special event will address these challenges.

Speakers

Opening remarks

• Ines Dombrowsky, Head of Programme Environmental Governance and Transformation to Sustainability, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
• Michal Mlynár, Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat

Panel discussion: Adapting Governance and Infrastructure for Water Resilience

• Ignatius Jean, Executive Director, Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CAWASA). 
• Georg Johann, Managing director of the flood competence center/ HochwasserKompetenzCentrum e.V.
• André Dzikus, Chief of Urban Basic Services Section at UN-Habitat
• Mariele Evers, Acting director of the department of geography at Bonn University and Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Human-Water Systems

Moderation

• Annabelle Houdret, Senior researcher at IDOS, speaker of the BonnWaterNetwork

Closing remarks

• Melanie Grabowy, Deputy Mayor of the city of Bonn

This special event is part of the 5th global WOP’s congress, ‘Resilience in challenging times: mobilizing collaboration for future-ready water and sanitation service providers’.

The Bonn Water Network consists of eleven renowned institutions with longstanding experience on water and related issues: the Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies (BICC); Bonn University with its Institute of Geography (GIUB) holding the UNESCO Chair in Human Water Systems, the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and the Institute for Hygiene and Public Health (IHPH); the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS); the IUCN Environmental Law Centre; and three Bonn-based UN institutions: the United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Global Water Operators Partnerships Alliance (UN-Habitat/GWOPA). In addition, Berlin- based Water Integrity Network (WIN) and the International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICGWRC) based in Koblenz are partners of the BWN. For more information: www.bonnwaternetwork.de.

Hinweis

Während unserer Veranstaltungen werden z.T. Foto- und/oder Filmaufnahmen gemacht, die für Zwecke der Veranstaltungsberichterstattung und allgemeinen Öffentlichkeitsarbeit in verschiedenen Medien veröffentlicht werden. Sie haben jederzeit das Recht, die Foto- oder Videograf*innen darauf hinzuweisen, dass Sie nicht aufgenommen werden möchten. / During our events photos and/or videos may be taken which may be published in various media for the purposes of documentation and PR activities. You have the right at any time to point out to the photographer or videographer that you do not want to be photographed or filmed.