UNU-IAS will co-convene an innovative session at the 2021 Bratislava Conference on Earth System Governance together with UNU-FLORES on 7 September 2021 (21:30–23:00 JST) on the theme of ‘Adaptiveness and Reflexivity’. The innovative session “Knowledge Faces Practice: Societal Challenges and Barriers to Overcome to Enhance Water Reuse Adaptation in a Circular Economy” explores pathways to strengthen public-private partnerships (PPP) in promoting the circular economy.
Kensuke Fukushi (Academic Programme Officer, UNU-IAS) will be moderating this session and provide opening and welcoming remarks, along with Serena Caucci (UNU-FLORES). Saroj Chapagain (Research Fellow, UNU-IAS) participates in it as a presenter. Saroj will be delivering a keynote speech on the roles of water for a sustainable future. He will focus on the water crisis that is becoming common and more pronounced in developing countries with continual growth in population and economy, highlighting the need for proper water management and integrated water resources management (IWRM) where relevant.
In the session, the interlinkages between industry, water utilities, and the agro-industry will be identified and innovative strategies on how to incorporate them into smart water management principles will be investigated as a road to the transition of society into a more circular economy for optimal water use. The session will also be a step to address the ‘Anthropocene gap’ by pointing to the inability of current governance structures to contend with emerging trends in water reuse. The discussion will bring a dynamic perspective to comparative problems and patterns of wastewater management and highlight the importance of the co-construction of a system with well-designed PPP frameworks.
Registration for this event is highly encouraged.
The 2021 Bratislava Conference on Earth System Governance (7–9 September 2021) brings together the largest social science research network in the area of governance and global environmental change. The conference is hosted in collaboration with CETIP, SlovakGlobe, Slovak Academy of Sciences and Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, and the Earth System Governance Project. It is designed to provide a lively forum for hundreds of scholars to engage in discussions on their research and to exchange new insights and ideas on earth system governance and global sustainability.
The 2021 Bratislava Conference is organised around the five analytical lenses structuring the earth system governance research agenda, as captured in the 2018 Science and Implementation Plan; and a sixth stream focusing on specific issues and challenges concerning the current moment of crisis, contestation, and calls for action across the globe.