World Water Week

Hybrid: 23 Aug - 1 Sept 2022 (CEST)

World Water Week 2022 focussed on how we value water.

The global water crisis and climate chaos is putting unprecedented pressure on the world’s freshwater. Fast-rising temperatures, increasing populations and varying consumption patterns mean that we need to adapt and innovate to manage water better.

2022’s theme was “Seeing the unseen: The value of water”, with sessions grouped under three headings:

The value of water for people and development
The financial and economic value of water
The value of water for nature and climate change

Practical Action at World Water Week

World Water Week 2022 explored the value of water in tackling some of the world’s toughest problems. We were proud to bring our experience from sustainable, people-centred approaches to the challenges of waste management and water resilience in vulnerable communities.

We brought our experience and expertise from our work into two events at the conference – the first online session explored the opportunities to unlock significant and sustainable benefits across the sanitation chain in Bangladesh while the second hybrid session focussed on broad water security solutions that are more than just boreholes. We also took part in the Communication Accelerator, where we highlighted the importance of effective communication on water issues and how to build resilience against disinformation.

Practical Action’s events at World Water Week

Partnerships multiplying benefits across faecal sludge management and organic waste value chains

Tuesday 23 August 11:30-12:50 (CEST)
Webinar

This session explored the opportunities to unlock significant and sustainable benefits across the sanitation chain in Bangladesh. This works by integrating waste management, so that toilet and household waste is effectively treated or recycled whilst improving jobs for workers. . Our commercial partners discussed the potential for scale, and local stakeholders share their priorities for jobs and inclusive service.

Our role in this webinar was to highlight how we are working with communities to develop inclusive solutions, which build on the existing expertise in the informal sector. We also discussed why integrated waste and sanitation is vital to improving efficiencies and maximising synergies.

At the end of the session, the floor opened to a discussion with the audience on the challenges they anticipate and solutions they suggest.

More than a borehole: climate, water, sustainability in Northern Kenya

Wednesday 31 August 09:00-09:30 (CEST)
Hybrid Session

A member of our team, James Ogutu – WASH Advisor, based in Kenya presented the ongoing work of bringing water security to pastoral communities in Turkana, Kenya among a host of other panellists from Grundfos Safe Water and Aarhus University.

We discussed our broad approach to water security solutions that is about more than just boreholes.

We are working with the Grundfos Foundation to deliver this project.

How do we build resilience against misinformation?

Wednesday 31 August 14:00-14:30 (CEST)
Hybrid Session

What can be done to prevent the spreading of counterfeit science and how can we increase resilience against misinformation? Along with panellists from the Grundfos Foundation and the Stockholm International Water Institute, Our WASH Advisor, James Ogutu, discussed the importance of effective communication on water issues.

We discussed how to build communication resilience against fake news and disinformation and also took a closer look at how fake news is created and distributed.