World Water Week | 20 - 27 August

From 20 to 27 of August, 2011, the World Water Week will take place in Stockholm, Sweden under the overarching theme "Water in an Urbanising World". The World Water Week in Stockholm, organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute, is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development.

UNWater and numerous other convenors will present various seminars consistent with the "Thematic Scope" of the Seminar. The following Introduction (and a break from the Texas drought and heat) make this event seem very worthwhile and one I wish I cold attend:

A continuous and rapid urbanisation is a significant driver of change for individuals, for social relations and for our life support systems on local, national, regional as well as on a global scale. By 2050 the urban population is estimated to be of the same size as the total global population today. Around 95 per cent of the global population increase will be in urban areas. Most of the growth is expected in secondary towns. Huge urban conglomerates will also expand. The previous urban minority is turning into a majority. More profoundly, the urbanising world is characterised by rapid economic growth, social mobility but also by modified consumption patterns and glaring socioeconomic differences. As a whole, these changes are associated with growing urban footprints, physically, economically and politically far beyond the city borders. Change is multidimensional with various facets interwoven in a complex web. Differences and inequalities between and within cities are likely to become more pronounced.

To create liveable cities for a turbulent future, considerable investments are required in infrastructure and in institutional and governance arrangements. These must be combined with social programmes that rectify gender, age and habitat injustices.