Programme organisation for technical events of international repute like IWA’s World Water Congresses confronts conference organisers with an enormous challenge. Before the background of the steadily growing water problems at global level and the resulting risks for human health, life and possessions, the key themes of an event that has the potential to attract as many as 3,000 participants more or less suggest themselves. The prime concern of conference organisers must therefore be to identify the specific target groups and tailor the programme to their needs, ensuring that not only experts but also political and administrative stakeholders find the topics interesting and easy to comprehend.
IWA has dedicated itself to providing such an international platform where scientific know-how and practice are successfully brought together at the highest level. For this purpose, it has developed three conference streams:
- Specialised Conferences (about 35 each year on all continents) dealing with special sub-themes related to water management;
- Leading Edge Conferences, where the focus is on the exchange of experience and transfer of know-how (ranging from basic research to industry-scale application);
- World Water Congresses (every two years), which are held in conjunction with trade exhibitions; their aim is to be instrumental in mastering the complex challenges of sustainable water management in a local context.
Conference organisers of each World Water Congress must therefore consider two key aspects when developing their programme: one is to further the pooling and dissemination of proven know-how and experience to ensure that the outcome of the two other conference types can be broadened and linked accordingly; the other is to establish human networks which, going beyond correspondence by email, help to nourish those personal contacts that are so vitally important for understanding new interrelations and implementing scientific know-how in practice. These two crucial aspects largely depend on the region in which the conference is held. A determining factor for choosing Vienna as the venue of the IWA World Water Congress 2008 was the underlying endeavour to reserve the Danube Region, the potential new EU acceding states and Eastern Europe in general a prominent place in the conference programme. The first step in this direction was to entrust the International Association of Water Supply Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD) with the task to organise the conference at local level.
The latter will, in collaboration with IWA Congress President Walter Kling, representing the Vienna Waterworks (MD 31), and the IWA National Committee, ensure that a regional touch is added to the event in Vienna. The IWA Programme Committee, comprising renowned experts from around the globe, will be in charge of organising the programme details.
A forum for the hosting region
In what way can the region exert an influence on the conference programme? This primarily depends on how many and what type of inputs the IWA Programme Committee receives. For instance, these may be contributions submitted in the framework of the Call for Papers and Workshops.
One option is to suggest general topics of regional interest directly to the IAWD or the IWA, on the basis of which one or even several specialised workshops may be developed. It is also possible to nominate individual experts from the region who shall give a presentation. Another form of regional input may be the presentation of an enterprise located in the area or one that seeks to enhance its market opportunities in the Danube Region.
A decisive factor for IWA is that a certain initiative comes from the region, is of interest to the region, or is to be launched in the region. It needs to be stressed that IWA does not develop a programme for a certain region, but that IWA provides the region with a platform to present itself! However, IWA closely monitors adherence of all conference activities to the stringent quality standards.
This ensures that all different fields of interest – covering basic research, promotion and marketing of water services, plant design and capacity, as well as all technical, economic and organisational aspects of plant operation and management – are delicately balanced.
Apart from establishing "troubleshooting" networks, World Water Congresses also seek to encourage regional experts to become members of IWA. In my capacity as Chairman of the Programme Committee of IWA World Water Congresses, I am deeply convinced that an active IWA membership not only facilitates the integration of individual members in a global circle of experts but also enhances their personal reputation!
(Source: aqua press Int. 2/2006, Prof. DDr. Helmut Kroiss)
Contact & Information:
IAWD
DI Walter Kling (Secretary General)
c/o Vienna Waterworks
Grabnergasse 4-6, A-1060 Vienna
Tel.: +43/1/599 59-0
