Widespread Consensus on Pressing Issues

And so it was that over 4500 visitors from 94 different countries descended on the capital of Austria over 4 days for the 2008 IWA World Water Congress. The Congress covered the cross-cutting themes of Sanitation, Cities of the Future, Climate Change, Water and Energy, Water Reuse and Desalination, Frontiers of Science and Technology, as well as human resources (with a special focus on attracting more women in water and young water professionals). There were over 1000 papers presented and 30 workshops held, with 10 key note speeches from the best in the field.

IWA's President, Dr. David Garman, summarised "I believe we have experienced a true milestone in the ongoing collaboration among water professionals, but - just as important in these times of change - have also been able to engage with key stakeholders from outside IWA and the sector with whom we must forge stronger collaboration partnerships. Hosting the Local Governments' Day in conjunction with the World Water Congress, for example, has formed a vital connection with local government officials who are instrumental in getting people water and sanitation services. We have also struck new and significant cooperative agreements with the Stockholm International Water Institute and the Water Environmental Federation of the USA to make sure we are all pulling in the same direction."

IWA's Young Water Professionals programme had its most successful coming together ever - with the under 35's represented on every level of the Association with the exception of the Council of Distinguished Water Professionals. One of the handful of CDWP members who the YWPs challenged in organised debates compared the energy and vision he experienced with a "revolutionary force", and was thankful to have gained as much from the encounter as he hoped YWPs had from meeting the "oldies".

The new "Development Corner" brought Congress delegates a highly interactive series of debates on how to ramp up efforts to connect billions of needy citizens in the developing world to water systems. Leading associations, the private sector, NGOs, The World Bank, UN and governmental agencies debated and showcased sanitation solutions, privatepublic partnerships, financial engineering, capacity building strategies and a wide range of further topics vital to the developing world.

In 2009, IWA will begin hosting a global biannual Development Congress - the first venue being Mexico City - as part of an extensive programme of activities to make progress in the Developing world. The closing ceremony of the 2008 Congress ended with an insight to the 2010 IWA World Water Congress to be held in Montreal. Surely a great challenge given the success of Vienna, but one that Peter Jones, the upcoming Congress President, promised to rise to.