Final Programme Beyond the River - World Water Week

Wednesday 23 August
Side Events
Side Events on 23 August
Photo: SIWI
12:15–13:15 Folkets Hus, Room 307
Green-Blue Initiative:
Integrated Green-Blue Land and Water
Resource Management for Poverty
Alleviation and Ecosystem Sustainability
Convenors: Stockholm International Water Institute
(SIWI) and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
The Green-Blue Initiative (GBI) is a joint programme of
a group of international core partners, sharing the interest
of developing the new green-blue paradigm: SIWI, SEI,
International Water Management Institute, International
Food Policy Research Institute, The World Conservation
Union and the Association for Strengthening Agricultural
Research in Eastern and Central Africa.
The goal is green water policy development and proper
linkages to land use management policies, by integrating
green and blue water governance in Integrated Water Resource
Management. Water is seen as a leverage in driving
livelihood improvements. This ambitious initiative
will find out what local level mechanisms will be needed
to benefit more from the green water potential to alleviate
poverty.
The programme involves efforts on all scales, from
the local to the global. Until now, water resource planners
have been operating within a partial reality, a reality
based on a rather narrow set of blue water data. Such a
reality is inadequate to address emerging investment options
available, livelihood and poverty alleviation, and
environmental sustainability.
The core focus of the GBI programme will be at the
local scale, assessing the role of green and blue water
flows in poverty reduction. A green and blue water paradigm
opens new opportunities for investments in water
management for livelihood improvements. Field activities
will be carried out in pilot river basins where strong
partnerships will be established with both river basin and
community based organisations. Studies will focus on
governance approaches integrating green and blue water
management.
12:15–13:15 Folkets Hus, Room 300
Transboundary Water Cooperation as
a Tool for Conflict Prevention and
Broader Benefit Sharing – Book Launch
Convenor: Expert Group on Development Issues (EGDI),
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden
The study commissioned by the secretariat of the Expert
Group on Development Issues and written by Dr. David
Phillips, Consultant, UK; Dr. Marwa Daoudy, Graduate
Institute for International Studies, Université de Genève,
Switzerland; Dr. Anthony Turton, University of Pretoria,
South Africa; Dr. Joakim Öjendal, Gothenburg University,
Sweden; and Prof. Stephen McCaffrey, University of
the Pacific in California, USA, will be launched at this
event. The study considers three case study basins and
outlines a number of policy lessons. One lesson, for example,
is that there is an urgent need for more and better coordinated
support of transboundary water management.
Also, co-operative “spill-over effects” from transboundary
water can be attained, particularly in circumstances
that are not highly “securitised”. And, finally, that donor
and international financing institutions should take note
of the need to support weaker states in transboundary
settings.
12:15–13:15 Folkets Hus, Congress Hall B
“Water and Film”: From Mexico City
to Istanbul via Stockholm
Convenors: French Water Academy, International
Secretariat for Water and Comision Nacional del Agua
(CONAGUA, Mexico)
The French Water Academy, the International Secretariat
for Water, CONAGUA and their partners invite you
to know more about the results of the 1st International
“Water and Film” Event which took place in Mexico City
during the 4th World Water Forum in March 2006.
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