IAHR Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals | Annual Report 2023
Meet the IAHR Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals Keep updated
Who we are?
The IAHR Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aims at coordinating IAHR’s activities in support of the global efforts to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Besides SDG 6 which aims at ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all, the effort to achieve several other SDGs can benefit from the experience and knowledge of IAHR members on the hydraulics of engineered structures and natural systems, especially on matters pertaining to their environmental protection and sustainable management. The Working Group is also focusing its efforts in supporting the work of the UN Water program, whose primary goal is to help UN Member States to sustainably manage water and sanitation and achieve the water related SDGs.
This video collection introduces how IAHR Institute Members are contributing to sustainable development and the achievement of the water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
What we do? 2023 Summary
1. Publications
Hydrolink 2023-1 IAHR and the Water-related Sustainable Developmet Goals
Editor(s): Angelos N. Findikakis
Related: Hydrolink Magazine
This issue of Hydrolink is dedicated to articles from the leadership of four IAHR Technical Committees that discuss the contributions of their work to the SDGs.
2. Webinars, Seminars and Workshops
2.1 Risk Management: Extremes of Flood and Drought
Date: February 28, 2023
Supporting organizations:
CRSRI (Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute)
AUTH UNECO CIMWRM (AUth Unesco Center on Integrated & Interdisciplinary Water Resources Management)
ADB (Asian Development Bank)
IAHR (International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research)
IWHR (China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research)
GWP China Yangtze River (Global Water Partnership China Yangtze River)
Contribution to SDG13-Climate change / SDG6
The webinar brings innovative, interdisciplinary, and environmentally sound methods and tools to foster advances in water sciences at the science-policy nexus to help meet global water challenges such as floods and droughts.
Both China and Europe are facing serious problems due to too much, too little water problems. Frequent flooding and drought periods which impact water security. China’s experiences and practices could be valuable for other countries and vice versa for Europe. Cooperation and Partnership (which is 2023 WWD theme) is a critical path to accelerate change and achieve SDGs.
More information and the video can be found here.
2.2 Contribution to UN Water Conference March 2023
Angelos Findikakis, (our official link to UN) together with IAHR’s Executive Director Tom Soo and two other IAHR members, Peter Goodwin, and Greg Da Costa, participated in the UN Water Conference in New York.
A good summary of the UN Water conference can be found here.
The clear message from the onset was that “we are not on track to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on water and sanitation for all.”A business-as-usual approach to management of global water resources simply will not work.
2.3 IAHR Webinar Capacity of the Youth and International Organisations Towards Partnership, Cooperation and Environmental Protection to Accelerate SDGs
Date: June 5, 2023 (online)
The webinar on "Capacity of the youth and international organizations towards partnership, cooperation, and environmental protection to accelerate SDGs" brought together a diverse panel of experts, each shedding light on vital aspects of acceleration.
The interactive webinar gave the floor to the young generation exploring their viewpoints on groundwater governance, water resources, youth engagement, and cooperation between nations. They argued on the multifaceted definitions of acceleration offering insights into diverse approaches to fostering positive change.
According to Hadis Mohajerani (the webinar convener): IAHR SDGs working group, and young professionals’ council:
This IAHR webinar provided valuable insights into accelerating progress towards SDGs, emphasizing the critical role of youth engagement and collaboration with international organizations. Institutionalizing youth involvement within technical and scientific organizations, such as IAHR, is essential. Young members should connect with working groups and committees to enrich technical processes with their perspectives.
Intergenerational knowledge transfer emerged as a pivotal factor, encouraging young professionals to voice their opinions confidently. The dynamic exchange between senior professionals and young talent can foster innovative solutions to address water challenges effectively.
Furthermore, fostering collaboration between technical organizations and specific projects led by civil society organizations can amplify the impact of initiatives. Young professionals are encouraged to continue connecting through platforms like the World Youth Parliament for Water and the Groundwater Youth Network, ensuring their expertise drives tangible efforts.
This event was related to the IAHR Young Professionals Network.
2.4 Technical Workshop
Technical Workshop on Water and Climate Change Inter-Dependencies
13 June 2023, Bonn, Germany (hybrid) (www.unwater.org)
This workshop was convened to identify what is known and not known about the dependency of Paris Agreement targets on the sustainable management of water resources. This information is expected to assist Parties to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris agreement to incorporate water issues in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and in UNFCCC processes, and to consider whether there should be any further assessment of these issues by the IPCC in the IPCC 7th cycle work program.
IAHR’s contribution to the discussion on links between water and climate change mitigation was focused specifically on “Water storage & distribution systems”
In this workshop the contribution of IAHR was a cooperation of many technical committees. The summary report of the workshop can be found here. Watch a briefing on the workshop here.
2.5 Online seminar
Smart Water: Digital Water and Responses to Climate Change
Date : Wednesday June 28, 2023
Supporting organizations:
CRSRI (Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute)
AUTH UNECO CIMWRM (AUth Unesco Center on Integrated & Interdisciplinary Water Resources Management)
DHI (Water Resources Global Business Unit. DHI)
IAHR (International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research)
GWP China Yangtze River (Global Water Partnership China Yangtze River)
This online seminar is a collaboration of various international organizations to strengthen the science-policy-practice interface by bringing together experts from the academia and the industry to explore and to trigger discussions on the latest updates, tools, and benefits of “digital water transformation” in various sectors.
2.6 Invited Lecture
“Managing Water-Energy-Land-Food under Climatic, Environmental and Social Instability”
27 June – 1 July 2023, Thessaloniki, Greece
Invited speaker: Angelos Findikakis in the 12th WORLD CONGRESS on Water Resources and Environment (EWRA)
Invited talk title: Water and the Question of Sustainability and/or Growth
3. SDG Group Meeting
25 August 2023
Points of Discussion
Angelos Findikakis presented the latest news from UN meetings in relation to SDGs and also how IAHR SDG group can contribute to UN efforts and initiatives for water and SDGs acceleration and implementation. As 2023 marks the mid-point in time towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN Agenda 2030, there is a global recognition that progress is slower than what is needed to achieve these goals. Several efforts are under way to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.
Interesting discussion on different problems encountered in the science-policy communication, especially on how to articulate positions under uncertainty. Interesting examples drawn. It was brought up that scientists and engineers tend to hesitate to expres opinions unless there fully backed by data. However opinions can be expressed based on fundamental laws of physics even in the absence of complete data.
Suggestion for a possible publication (white paper, or hydrolink) on Traditional Hydrotechnologies as good practices for climate change adaptation
4. Contribution to COP28
30 November to 12 December 2023
A progress report of the study from the technical workshop in Bonn was presented at the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) from 30 November to 12 December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Preliminary results from this study were presented by the IUCA at COP28.
The statement about this can be found here. The session can be watched YouTube.
The UN Water Expert Group on Water and Climate Change is undertaking a study on the water requirements of climate mitigation measures, in partnership with the International Universities Climate Alliance (IUCA). This follows the Technical Workshop on Water and Climate Change Mitigation, held in Bonn on 13 June 2023, which set out to identify what is known and not known about the dependency of Paris Agreement targets on the sustainable management of water resources. IAHR is part of this consortium.
At COP28 IAHR, through various TCs provided a working paper under the title:
“Dependencies between water and climate change mitigation”
This paper is the result of the synthesis of the interdisciplinary knowledge of many distinguished scientists and researchers from the technical committees that exist in IAHR and bring together the knowledge and experience of more than 85 years in water research and science.
The final report will be used to prepare a UN Water Analytical Brief on this topic to be available for the 2024 Bonn Climate Conference in June 2024.
5. Planned Future Activities
5.1 Webinar
February 2024 (online)
Following the IAHR Working Paper “Dependencies between water and climate change mitigation” a webinar will be organized to convey key messages on what we know and what we don’t know in relation to water-related risks/opportunities which need to be assessed to ensure that mitigation actions can be sustainable and account for water.
5.2 Special Session (24th IAHR APD Congress)
SPECIAL SESSION supporting SDGs in cooperation with other International Organizations in IAHR APD, 2024 (in progress)