The International Water Assn. (IWA) World Water Congress and Exhibition, taking place this year Sept. 19 to 24 in Montreal, QC, Canada, is an international event attracting 4,500 water professionals and organizations from across the globe to advance their common goal of sustainable water management.
The biennial event brings together the world’s community of water professionals to exchange ideas, explore the state of the art and debate the key issues underlying the science and practice of water.
An extensive program of workshops, discussions and presentations will explore a range of current and future challenges facing the water sector through seven key themes:
• Cities of the future: Developing new paradigms for highly efficient urban water services in new and existing cities throughout the world;
• Managing utilities and their assets: Meeting the evolving service challenges and triple bottom line objectives in developing and developed countries from strategic management to operations and maintenance;
• Science and application of water management: Exploring advances in fundamental water science, research and technology related to urban drainage, and the management and treatment of water, wastewater and storm water;
• Securing new and traditional water sources for the future: Understanding the technologies and practices behind new water and the emerging opportunities they provide for water security;
• Water, ecosystems and catchments: Managing and using surface water and groundwater resources to enhance ecosystem health;
• Water and health: Safeguarding public health through effective interventions for water, sanitation and hygiene; and
• Water, climate and energy: Developing strategies for adapting and optimizing water services in the context of population growth, climate change and related energy impacts.
A range of technical tours and specialist streams for young water professionals and water professionals from low and middle income add another dimension to the Congress.
Keynote speakers include:
• John Carey (director general at Environment Canada);
• William (Bill) Cosgrove (former vice president of the World Bank, Ecoconsult Inc, Canada);
• Chad Holliday (former chairman of DuPont, U.S.);
• Helmut Kroiss (University of Vienna, Austria);
• Arjun Thapan (Asian Development Bank, Singapore); and
• Khoo Teng Chye (chief executive of Public Utilities Board, Singapore).
To compliment the technical program, a social program has been composed to offer an array of networking opportunities. This includes a gala dinner with Cirque Eloize, a concert in the Notre-Dame Basilica by the Canadian Brass and sightseeing tours.
In 2010, IWA is partnering with the Canadian Water and Wastewater Assn. and the Canadian Association on Water Quality to hold the biannual event in Montréal. Principal sponsors of the Congress are ITT, Suez Environnement and Veolia Water.
For more information and registration, please visit http://www.iwa2010montreal.org/.
Source: IWA
