9th Meeting of the GWSP Scientific Steering Committee
SSC 9-II-5 DOC
DRAFT Concept for the 2013 GWSP science conference
„ Challenges for Science and Governance: Indicators, Thresholds and
Uncertainty of the Global Water System“
Or
“Global Water System: Science and governance to secure sustainability”
1. Background
During the GWSP decade (2004-2014) the three leading questions “What are the magnitudes of
anthropogenic and environmental changes in the global water system and what are the key
mechanisms by which they are induced?”, “What are the main linkages and feedbacks within the
earth system arising from changes in the global water system?”, “How resilient and adaptable is the
global water system to change, and what are sustainable water management strategies?” have been
addressed with GWSP specific foci and within GWSP specific niches. GWSP research focuses on the
global water cycle and its potential interactions with environmental change and anthropogenic
drivers. It is specific in its global perspective that draws from regional and basin wide case studies, its
integrative and interdisciplinary research and the consideration of past-present and future time
domains. Furthermore GWSP research is science driven but policy relevant and focuses on
freshwater rather than marine systems though considering the transitional zones (deltas and the
coast). Relating to this background, three integrated study areas have been defined as a mediumterm strategy in 2007: the Global scale initiative (GSI) ranking the threats to the Global Water System
and investigating the states and trajectories of change; the global catchment initiative (GCI) bringing
the global perspective to river basin research and management; and the global water needs initiative
(GWNI) investigating the needs of humans and nature with respect to water flows. Governance and
adaptation strategies, and climate, but also socioeconomic and political changes are the important
cross cutting themes that are central to GWSP.
During the 2013 GWSP science conference GWSP and other research groups working on related
problems at comparable scales will present their results to the international scientific community.
This conference is conceived to summarize the decade-long efforts and present the achievements of
GWSP, allow for discussion and evaluation and most importantly be a forum to conceptualize and
potentially serve as a kick-off event for future global water system research. Scientific gaps and
challenges as well as challenges for society, policy, management and governance will be identified.
Funding and institutional frameworks required to close these gaps and to address these challenges
will be discussed.
2. Objectives and scope
The aim of the conference is to review the state-of-the art research, advance understanding and
foster dialogue with professionals and policy makers concerning the knowledge of the global water
system with regard to achieving sustainability, reducing poverty, maintaining biodiversity and
environmental flows. This is essential to address the Belmont Challenge “to deliver knowledge
needed for action to mitigate and adapt to detrimental environmental change and extreme
hazardous events”. The Belmont challenge as well as the grand challenges for sustainability research
identified by the ICSU visioning process, demonstrate the need for inter- and transdisciplinary
research and the need to acknowledge and to address the coupling of natural, social and economic
systems. Consequently the inclusion of the governance perspective next to the integration of
biophysical processes, economic and the social aspects is a must.
We are changing the global water system in significant ways, without adequate knowledge of the
system and how it responds to change. This central tenet of GWSP remains as actual as it was in 2004
when this statement was coined. With respect to water, the Belmont challenge as well as the grand
challenges in global sustainability research (ICSU Vision) have to be addressed at global scale since
for example a high biofuel demand on one continent of the globe likely has impact on e.g. water use,
water quality and biodiversity in those parts of the world where biofuels are grown. Besides global
interconnectedness through the hydrological cycle, water is traded globally as virtual part of
manufactured goods, food and feed. This conference aims at emphasizing this global perspective.
Throughout the first three sessions, the conference will illuminate those areas of research where the
Belmont challenge and the grand challenges in global sustainability research (ICSU Vision) – that is
forecasting (improve the usefulness of forecasts of future environmental conditions and their
consequences for people), observing (develop, enhance and integrate the observation systems
needed to manage global and regional environmental change), confining (determine how to
anticipate, avoid and manage disruptive global environmental change), responding (determine what
institutional, economic and behavioural changes can enable effective steps toward global
sustainability), and innovating (encourage innovation in developing technological, policy and social
responses to achieve global sustainability) - have already been and are currently addressed with
respect to the global water system. The last session will then highlight how the grand challenges can
and should be addressed in the immediate future. Interconnected securities, like the water-energyfood nexus, strong emphasis on water quality, the freshwater-ocean interaction and the already
cultivated water-biodiversity and governance dimensions can be envisaged as emerging foci for
future research.
3. Sessions and panel discussions
Sessions will be organized around the three GWSP initiatives, the Global Scale Initiative (GSI), the
Global Catchment Initiative (GCI) and the Global Water Needs Initiative (GWNI). The cross-cutting
themes climate change, governance and adaptation strategies will be an important part of all three
sessions. A fourth session will address the future of global water system research.
Each of the plenary sessions 1-3 consists of two invited (keynote) presentations à 45 min (35min +
10min discussion). There are several time slots reserved for parallel sessions hosting a series of short
talks (12 min + 3 min discussion). In each of those time slots there will be at least three parallel
sessions: one referring to the topic of plenary 1, one to the topic of plenary 2 and one to the topic of
plenary 3. Further sessions e.g. referring to governance, virtual water or other topics are possible.
These parallel sessions may be organized by invited conveners. Furthermore there will be two poster
sessions (5min presentation of posters) relating to the topics of the plenary sessions 1-3.
Plenary session 4 (future of global water system research) will feature a series of short (invited) talks.
During the time slots of the parallel sessions preceding and succeeding the 4th plenary there will be
two workshops focusing on the future of global water system science.
1st Plenary session: The Global Water System: current state and future perspectives
-
Ecological state: threats and adaptation
Social and governance perspective: threats and adaptation
Methods/observation systems needed to anticipate, monitor and manage global and
regional change of the GWS
2nd Plenary session: The global dimensions of change in river basins
-
River basins, their interconnectivities and linkages to the Global Water System (virtual water)
River basins and Global Change (land use change, climate change)
Societal, governance and management perspectives
3rd Plenary session: Environmental Flow Requirements
-
Methods and concepts to determine environmental flow requirements (various scales)
Human demands and ecosystem demands – a conflict?
Societal, governance and management perspectives
4th Plenary session: The future of global water system research
-
Scientific gaps and challenges
Challenges for society, policy, management and governance
Funding and institutional frameworks: What do we need and where can we contribute?
Closing plenary session
-
rapporteurs report from their session respectively workshop and from the panel discussions
(10min per session and discussion)
Summary, outlook and closing remarks
There will be two panel discussions:
1st Panel discussion: Science meets practice and politics
- Water sustainability versus water security: conceptual difference or two sides of the same
coin?
2nd Panel discussion: Quo vadis international water science?
- Current knowledge gaps / future water challenges
o natural scientist’s perspective, social scientist’s perspective, policy maker’s
perspective, donor’s perspective
o from the point of view of IGBP, DIVERSITAS, WCRP, IHDP, ESSP
4. Funding
Different funding concepts are possible:
a) Funding by GWSP donor(s) or other funding agencies
b) Financing through charging high conference fees
c) Mix of options a) and b)
5. Venue
Will depend on who organizes the conference as well as on who funds it.
6. Time schedule (feasibility check):
Monday
08:00
08:30
09:00
09:30
10:00
15:30
16:00
16:30
17:00
17:30
18:00
18:30
19:00
19:30
20:00
20:30
21:00
21:30
Wednesday
Thursday
Opening Plenary Session 1:
two talks à 45 min
including questions
3rd Plenary Session
two talks à 45 min
including questions)
Coffee
Parallel sessions with short
talks (12min + 3min for
questions)
Coffee
Parallel sessions with
short talks
(12min + 3min for
questions) respectively
workshop on the future
of global water system
research
Lunch
Parallel sessions with
short talks
(12min + 3min for
questions) respectively
workshop on the future of
global water system
research
Coffee
Closing Plenary Session:
Report of rapporteurs
from parallel sessions,
panels and workshops.
Closing summary.
Registration
10:30
11:00
11:30
12:00
12:30
13:00
13:30
14:00
14:30
15:00
Tuesday
Lunch
Registration,
Delivery of slide
show
presentations,
fixing of posters
Icebreaker
2nd plenary session:
Two talks à 45 min
including questions
4th Plenary Session:
series of short talks à
15 min including
questions
Coffee
First Panel Discussion
(4 talks à 15min)
1st Poster Session (5 min
presentations)
Coffee
2nd Panel Discussion
(4 talks à 15min)
Time for informal group
discussions
2nd Poster Session (5
min presentations)
Conference Dinner
Lunch