UN 2023 Water Conference

The UN 2023 Water Conference will be held on 22-24 March 2023, at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Conference aims to support work to achieve the internationally agreed water-related goals and targets, including those in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Conference will feature six plenary meetings and five interactive dialogues. It marks the midterm comprehensive review of the implementation of the objectives of the International Decade for Action, ‘Water for Sustainable Development’, 2018-2028.

The Netherlands and Tajikistan, as co-hosts, strive to make the Conference a watershed moment for the world: their vision for the Conference is to promote efforts to understand, value and manage water better. As part of conference preparations, they encouraged stakeholders to make Water Action Agenda commitments - IHE Delft is part of several commitments, including one on strengthening regional training centres and networks for such centers and one on Water, Peace and Security for Sustainable Development.

IHE Delft at the Conference

As an accredited stakeholder at the conference, IHE Delft will advocate for capacity development as key to progress in achieving Global Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls for universal access to clean water and sanitation. IHE Delft is a supporting organizer of 11 side events inside the United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ), five virtual side events, several off-site side events and several New York Water Week events. IHE Delft representatives at the conference include:

Eddy Moors, Rector
Graham Jewitt, Professor of Hydrology, Head of the Water Resources and Ecosystems Department
Aaron Wolf, Professor of Water Cooperation and Diplomacy
Susanne Schmeier, Associate Professor on Water Law and Diplomacy, Head of the Water Governance Department
Emanuele Fantini, Senior Lecturer/Researcher in Water Politics and Communication
Alyssa Offutt, PhD Candidate
Gaetano Casale, Manager Liaison Office
Martijn van Staveren, Liaison Office Advisor
Bhavna Bhasin, Communication Advisor, Water and Development Partnership Programme
Susanna Lööf, Communication Manager
Valentina Uribe Jaramillo, MSc student, Groundwater and Global Change
Lindsey Kenyon, MSc student, Groundwater and Global Change
Adele Young, PhD Candidate taking part in Wetskills USA 2023 (UN)
Mila Avellar Montezuma C. Cunha, MSc student, Sustainable Urban Waters Management and Climate-Resilient Cities, taking part in Wetskills USA 2023 (UN)

The list below includes events in which IHE Delft is a supporting organizer, and events we support in other ways. Browse the list to find opportunities to engage! Please note that events at the UN Headquarters are accessible only to accredited conference participants. Some events will be livestreamed. Additional information will be added to the list when available. For more events, see the UN 2023 Water Conference side event programme and the New York Water Week event programme

We’d like to invite alumni who are in New York to join an Alumni Networking Gathering, to be held 21 March in the eventing. Please email Alumni Relations Advisor m.sorrentino@un-ihe.org to receive an invitation!

Let's talk about water/Mayors Make Movies
NY Water Week event
The programme’s feature is the Cannes documentary by Senegalese French director Aissa Maiga, Marcher sur L’eau, complimented by short water related films by the OECD, Wavemakers United, Water as Leverage, and others. These films will engage guests cinematically on these critical water related topics and it is guaranteed to be an artistic, yet impactful evening of water related discussion! Let’s Talk About Water is a unique program combining the power of film and the science of water to inform and engage students, faculty and the general public in active discussion about water issues and solutions. Speakers include IHE Delft Senior Lecturer/Researcher in Water Politics and Communication Emanuele Fantini.

Location: Florence Gould Hall at the French Institute Alliance Française 55 East 59th Street, New York City, New York 10022, US

Time: 18:00-20:30 EDT

More information and registration

World Water Film Festival (WWFF)
NY Water Week event
The World Water Film Festival (WWFF) will showcase a variety of 20 short and feature films made by water advocates from around the world, featuring workshops, guest speakers, and a four-hour “Women in Water Energy & Film” summit, with speakers including Elisabeth Lictevout, Director of the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC).

IHE Delft Senior Lecturer/Researcher in Water Politics and Communication Emanuele Fantini is a jury member.

Location: The Forum at Columbia University, NY

Time: 10:00-19:00 EDT

This event will run from Sunday 19 March until Sunday 26 March. Some of the events will be available online.

Register for free tickets here.

If you want to organize a World Water Film Festival watch party, online event or local festival, please see this link.

The SDG 6 Research and Innovation Marathon Relay
NY Water Week event (hybrid)
In 2020, five accelerators that will speed up progress toward fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls for universal access to clean water and sanitation, were identified: Finance, Data and information, Capacity development, Innovation and Governance.

What research and innovation are needed to accelerate work in each of these five pillars? This is the question researchers around the world will debate in a 24-hour marathon relay held in the run-up to the UN 2023 Water Conference. The result of the debate will be shared at the Conference. Please see this page for more information.

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Water and Heritage: Connecting Past, Present and Future
Conference side event
A diverse and interdisciplinary group will discuss concepts, methodologies and case studies. Participants will challenge governments, Indigenous peoples and local communities, community-based organizations, environmental and conservation groups, historical and cultural organizations, women's and gender organizations, youth organizations and groups, and academic and research institutions to voice their knowledge and experience on past and present water management. Speakers include IHE Delft Rector Eddy Moors.

Location: Harlem Stage, 150 Convent Avenue, New York, NY 10031

Time: 9:30-17:30 EDT

More information

Event summary
Engaging early career professionals and students in water sustainability and resilience through data equity
Online side event
An open-to-all charrette driven by early career professionals and students to develop actionable steps and entry points to galvanize justice-centered change that transcends the side meeting.
- 20 March 2023, 10:00-12:00 EDT (16:00-18:00 CET)
- Location: Online
For more information and registration please click here
Mobilizing for healthy watersheds: What’s your next move?
Online side event
This virtual side event offers a space to share lessons learnt from approaches being adopted in different watersheds across the world by diverse actors to foster participatory and collaborative processes that bring multiple stakeholder groups together, focused on attaining agreed targets and objectives. The question really is: what’s your next move?
- Monday, 20 March 2023, 11:00 EDT (17:00 CET)
- Location: Online
More information

Event summary
Youth& Education Day: UN2023 Gamechanger Challenge
NY Water Week event
The Youth & Education Day, organized by Wavemakers United, Wetskills and partners, includes the finals and awarding ceremony in which the winner of the UN2023 Gamechanger Challenge will be announced. More than 200 youth teams from all over the world took part in the challenge, which was organized with support from IHE Delft
- Time: 01:00 -07:00pm EDT
- Location: Water House, NY
- Organizers: Wavemakers United
More information

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers

Wastewater Management in the Textile, Footwear and Leather Industry: Challenges, progress and the role of education
Online side event
In this session, we showcase a cross-sectoral collaboration in standard setting, capacity-building and implementation that supports the goal of reducing hazardous chemicals in wastewater discharge. Speakers include Carlos López Vazquéz, IHE Delft Associate Professor of Sanitary Engineering.

Time: 9:00-11:00 EDT (15:00-17:00 CET)

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers

Event summary
Communicating water: a game-changer for acceleration and innovation
Online side event
- This session will highlight three angles of water communication to support the effective acceleration and innovation for maximum policy and advocacy impact.
  - Communication to raise awareness of the value of water to the general public (through the arts, education, and news)
  - Communication to promote science-based policy-making (open access research, science cooperation, capacity building, and advocacy)
  - Intergenerational communication (talking about water as a business, entrepreneurship, and integration of youth perspectives in business for the acceleration of actions to reach goals such as the SDGs, climate goals and the water decade objectives).
Location: online

Time: 10:30-11:45 EDT (16:30-17:45 CET)

More information

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Towards Youth Inclusive Water Governance: Filling the Information and Knowledge Voids
Online side event
In this session, we will have youth leaders and subject experts discourse on barriers and opportunities to Reconnecting Youth to the Water commons through a Youth-led and Youth-Centered Approach. IHE Delft PhD candidate Bota Sharipova will be one of the panellists.

Partner organisations: Foundation for Ecological Security, FES, Youth4WaterIndia, UNU-CRIS, Water Initiatives, WFL(Cameroon), UPWCD, Manthan, UNIFY, Water Youth Network, WCC, Ohenagianos.

Time: 07:00-08:30 EDT (12:00-13:30 CET)

Register here
The SDG 6 Research and Innovation Marathon Relay
NY Water Week event (hybrid)
In 2020, five accelerators that will speed up progress toward fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls for universal access to clean water and sanitation, were identified: Finance, Data and information, Capacity development, Innovation and Governance. On Tuesday, the Marathon will reach the European timezone.

What research and innovation are needed to accelerate work in each of these five pillars? This is the question researchers around the world will debate in a 24-hour marathon relay held in the run-up to the UN 2023 Water Conference. The result of the debate will be shared at the Conference. Please see this page for more information.

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers

Dialogue on Building Youth Leadership for Accelerating Change
NY Water Week event (online)
Students pursuing the IHE Delft MSc in Water and Sustainable Development will host a dialogue with young scholars from different regions to reflect on the present education system and deliberate on how it can be redefined to produce young inclusive leaders who are conscientious, responsible, empathetic and ready to catalyse change. The event will be moderated by Fawzia Tarannum. Speakers include Pierantonio La Vena of Italy, Igbal Ali of Sudan and Sajib Mahanta of India.

Time: 11:30-12:30 EDT (17:30- 18:30 CET)

More information

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Global Network of Isotope-Enabled Water Analysis Laboratories
UNHQ side event
At this event, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency with support from IHE Delft and other partners, a new network to support development and investment in national water analysis capacity to provide the data needed to address key water resource challenges facing the world will be launched.

Location: Conference room 8

Time: 12:30-13:45 EDT

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IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Water at the Intersection of Diplomacy and Science
Conference side event
With the rapid and intense development of water resources in the 20th century, relations between the riparian states in the utilization of transboundary water resources have become increasingly important. The international panel event will highlight the importance of science in water diplomacy and relevant methods, stakeholders, and institutions in that respect. The impact of science and politics in water diplomacy practices will be discussed in general with conceptual and case-study analysis involving international, national and sectoral water relations. Speakers include Susanne Schmeier, Associate Professor on Water Law and Diplomacy, Head of the Water Governance Department.

Location: Türkevi (Auditorium) 821 United Nations Plaza New York City

Time: 15:00-18:00 EDT

More information and registration
Elevating Critical Voices in Water Diplomacy
UNHQ side event
This event, organized by the Women in Water Diplomacy Network and supported by partners including IHE Delft, elevates the critical importance of inclusive water diplomacy processes with focus on the linkages between women, water, peace, and security and the essential value of water to peace and human security.

Location: Room A

Time: 15:30-16:45 EDT

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Event summary

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Systems Approach to achieving Water Security in a Changing Climate
UNHQ side event
This event will explore the key cross-cutting themes and requirements of a systems approach towards water security in a changing climate. Speakers include Graham Jewitt, IHE Delft Professor of Hydrology, Head of the Water Resources and Ecosystems Department.

Location: Conference room B

Time: 17:00-18:15 EDT

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Event summary
International and transboundary cooperation of integrated water management: from data collection to implementation
UNHQ side event
Technological advances provide large volume of new data and tools that play an important role in moving towards a more efficient water resource management at different levels of implementation. Speakers include Susanne Schmeier, Associate Professor on Water Law and Diplomacy, Head of the Water Governance Department.

Location: Conference room 7

Time: 18:30-19:45 EDT

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IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
The Walk of Water / Everyday Nile Photo Exhibition
The WoW highlights different perspectives of water across generations. It features five different exhibitions which have been combined into an overall installation, each focusing on a specific aspect of time: past, present and future. IHE Delft will join with the exhibition, a thematic journey dedicated to the past, the present and the future of water. IHE Delft will contribute to the section “present” through the photo-stories of #EverydayNile, produced in collaboration with InfoNile and nine photojournalists from Nile basin countries.

Location: UNHQ corridor 1B

Time: 22-24 March

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The United Nations of Rivers, Deltas, and Estuaries Day
Conference side event
Strategies and methodologies aimed at the sustainable management of water and water ecosystems need to go beyond technical and economic driven approaches. This high-level meeting shares insights and gathers support of policy makers and international organizations for the implementation of a series of action-based initiatives. Tthe participants will set aims and objectives for the year to come, and formalize the commitments for the Water Action Agenda. Speakers include IHE Delft Rector Eddy Moors.

Location: Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Pl, New York, NY 10012

Time: 8:00-10:00AM EDT

Event summary
Towards just water governance in Colombia: A dialogue on the Transformative Water Pact
Online
This event will present The Transformative Water Pact (TWP), an innovative framework for water governance that has been developed by environmental justice experts from around the world. The TWP will serve as a starting point for dialogue between representatives of the government of Colombia, academia, regional and international NGOs in relation to Colombia’s current ambitions in multi-scalar water governance. Specific attention will be given the ways in which indigenous, ethnic and bio-cultural approaches can be used to create stronger synergies between communities and formal institutions within the context of water governance. We will also discuss challenges that still remain in protecting strategic ecosystems in the region and the lessons learned from the environmental movement in Colombia, linking them to policy recommendations for transformative water governance at the regional level.

Time: 09:00 AM – 11:00AM EDT (14.00 – 16.00 CET)

More information and registration

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Facing Water Global Challenges by thinking out of the boat
Conference side event
This event will feature an intergenerational interactive session on youth engagement for business and innovation. The discussion will revolve around the need for the engagement to be:
1. Interactive and intergenerational
2. Diverse and inclusive
3. Bringing the water-energy biodiversity nexus on the table
4. Tackling Global Water Challenges
Location: Blue gallery, 222 East 46th Street NYC (6 min from UNHQ)

Time: 9:30-11:00AM EDT.

Register here

IHE Delft is a supporting organizer
Taking next steps for water and climate resilient world through capacity development of people and organizations
UNHQ side event
The aim of this event is to present capacity development as the main enabler of addressing future water and climate challenges (in all its aspects including mitigation and adaptation), in order to accelerate progress towards achievement all water/climate related SDGs. More specifically the event will present potential game changers related to capacity development that address capacity development as a process rather than an event; a process where all segments of society are involved (citizens, communities, schools, government agencies), whereby an adaptive approach to knowledge generation and application is taken to be able to address current and future challenges in a changing world. IHE Delft Rector Eddy Moors will participate as a speaker.

Location: ECOSOC Chamber

Time: 12:45-13:30 EDT

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Event summary

IHE Delft is a supporting organizer
Dealing with climate, water and peace: how participatory system analysis supported conflict resolution at local level. Lessons from Niger
Conference side event
The session brings together practitioners, government representatives, international organisations, and financial institutions.

It will emphasize how inclusive and system-based approaches, specifically participatory systems analysis, has led to successful results in the region of Dosso in Niger. The discussion will draw upon examples in which communities developed solutions to social tensions and conflicts driven by reduced resource availability and climate extremes. Emphasizing what drove success in the perception of those involved. The session includes a short experience session to allow the audience to get deeper insight in what participatory systems analysis entails.

Time: 13:00-14:00 EDT

Location: African Union representation in New York, 305 E 47th St 5th Floor, New York, NY 10017

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IHE Delft-led Water, Peace and Security Partnership is a supporting organiser
Committing to advance transboundary water cooperation worldwide for sustainable development, climate action, stability and peace
UNHQ side event
The event will introduce the benefits of transboundary water cooperation and how the Transboundary Water Cooperation Coalition will work to improve such efforts. During the event the commitments from each of the four TWCC pillars (Legal and institutional, Data, information, knowledge and technical support, Capacity development, Funding and financing) explaining the challenges they might face will be discussed.

Location: ECOSOC room

Time: 18:30-19:45 EDT

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Event summary

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
The Future of Water Starts Now: From Regional Youth Commitment to a World Water Workforce Initiative
UNHQ side event
Our water future will depend on the youth of today, and this event, organized by Josh’s Water Jobs and supported by partners including IHE Delft, will look at what they are achieving in Latin America and how that feeds a global effort that is the World Water Workforce initiative.

Location: Conference room B

Time: 17:00-18:15 EDT

More information TBA

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers

Groundwater: An invisible cross-sectoral fundament for implementation of the Water Action Agenda
UNHQ side event
This event, organized in collaboration of UNESCO and with support from partners including IHE Delft, follows the UN-Water Summit on Groundwater organized in December 2022. The side event calls for commitments of actions on groundwater across the globe and sectors.

Location: Trusteeship Council Chamber

Time: 08:00-09:15 EDT

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IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Secure water allocation for sustainable food production and the environment using innovative technologies and real time data
UNHQ side event
This event reflects on the innovative contribution of remote sensing water data for sustainable food production in supporting policy-makers to develop water strategies and farmers through advisory services. Speakers include Graham Jewitt, IHE Delft Professor of Hydrology and head of the Water Resources and Ecosystems Department.

Location: Conference room 6

Time: 12:30-13:45 EDT

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IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Forget SDG6 without strong local water organizations: commitments to strengthen capacity and finance for efficient, inclusive and climate resilient water service and management agencies
UNHQ side event
This event will be sharing promising approaches and committing transformative action to empower water utilities and authorities to play their full part in realizing SDG6 at the local level. IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers.

Location: Conference room 11

Time: 12:30-13:45 EDT

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IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers
Inclusive Science for Water Security
UNHQ side event
The event highlights the role of research and innovation in achieving the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs to provide Member States alternatives tools and pathways for sound water management. IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers.

Location: Trusteeship Council Chamber

Time: 15:30-16:45 EDT

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Event summary

IHE Delft is one of the supporting organizers