Themes

The River Basin Adaptation Conference aims to share experiences and identify best-practices on science-society interactions for river basin management and climate change adaptation. The conference will address two related themes: 

Theme 1 - Adaptation of river basin management to global change

Climate change and socio-economic developments are affecting the availability of and access to fresh water for drinking, agriculture, ecosystems and industrial activities. These changing conditions are posing challenges to policy and governance with regards to the optimisation of freshwater supply and demand and call for an urgent need to adapt current water management strategies. This theme will cover recent research and emerging practical experience on adapting water management in order to build resilience in the context of climate change.

 

Theme 2 - Science and society interactions in water management

Water management is a cross-cutting issue, which relates to a myriad of stakeholders, interests and areas of expertise. Moreover, it becomes increasingly clear that the wider society, in river basins and beyond, demands to be not only informed, but also taken on board in the development of sustainable water management strategies. Hence, for adaptation strategies to be credible, informed and achievable, they need to be developed through active participation of a diversity of stakeholders, sectors and policy areas in the river basin. This theme will cover recent research and good practices on involving science & society in water management decision making.