Last week, on 7-11 April in Madrid, the IAHR Executive Committee (EC) held a productive week of strategic meetings and institutional activities, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and international cooperation in the water sector. 

The current Executive Committee is composed for the following members: President, Philippe Gourbesville, Vice President, Amparo López Jiménez, Vice President, Ana Maria da Silva, Vice President, Mohamed S. Ghidaoui, Secretary General, Emily Wang, Secretary General , Ramon Gutiérrez Serret, Past Vice President, Hyoseop Woo, and Tom Soo, IAHR Executive Director.

Activities

IAHR-Spain Water Conference on The Future of Water Infrastructure in Spain and the World

On 8 April, IAHR and Spain Water organised the conference The Future of Water Infrastructure in Spain and the World in the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Madrid. The event brought together more than 400 professionals, researchers, and institutional representatives to exchange experiences, challenges, and good practices on the use of water infrastructures around the world, with specific cases in Spain, Portugal, France, Morocco, China and Australia. 

Committee Working Session: Accelerating IAHR’s strategy

On 9 April, a dedicated working session brought together IAHR Executive Committee members and key contributors to reflect on progress and define next steps to accelerate the implementation of IAHR’s strategy. This collaborative session helped sharpen IAHR’s focus and set the stage for more dynamic engagement with the association’s global community in the lead-up to the 41st IAHR World Congress in Singapore (22-27 June 2025).

Institutional visit to Canal de Isabel II

As part of the week’s agenda, IAHR representatives conducted an institutional visit to Canal de Isabel II on 10 April, strengthening ties with one of Spain’s leading public water utilities, which manages the entire water cycle across most of the Community of Madrid. During the visit, both organisations shared insights into their respective work and explored potential areas for collaboration.

Key topics included:

• Overview of Canal de Isabel II’s innovation areas and major projects.

• Presentation of the IAHR activities in Spain and the world.

• Canal de Isabel II-IAHR cooperation. 

The visit marked an important step toward building synergies between IAHR and Canal de Isabel II, with a shared vision of advancing sustainable water management through innovation and knowledge exchange.

The EC meets monthly online and plans to meet again physically in Singapore in June during the 41st IAHR World Congress.