Introduction and overviewof the Conference

Josefina Maestu

The Context

• Climate Change• Population Growth• Food needs • Energy

GREATER NEEDS FOR COOPERATION

There Are Many Benefits!

• For equity and poverty reduction • For development-economic benefits • For the environment• For Peace

We will hear about this in the side event of lunch time of today

In Zaragoza

• We have decided to go a step further and deal with the "how" question.

• This is: what are the tools for cooperation (legal, institutional, financial, information and knowledge sharing, benefit sharing, and dispute resolution mechanism)? and how they are implemented in practice?

Tools For Cooperation Are Critical Because

• Water is Complex

• The water sector “is not an island”

• There are Links between Water and Land and biodiversity

• There are many countries, groups and organizations with responsibilities, making it difficult for a single organization to be effective on its own.

• Water Problems do not originate solely in the sector’s institutions (policies, laws, traditions, organization) and nor can they be solved by water institutions alone.

• Water management is always tied to land management and influenced by urban planning. Biodiversity underpins water security

What Tools to Further Cooperation?

• Legal frameworks and institutional arrangements• Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms• Information sharing and joint assessments• Financing water cooperation

We have considerable advances in the global legal and institutional framework for cooperation

• The Water Conventions• Creation of Transboundary Commissions

We will hear about this in the next presentation

The Focus of the Conference

• We will be drawing lessons specifically from specific experiences on the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

• The conference will highlight the importance of mediation, water diplomacy, negotiation at transnational but also at national and local level.

Themes and focus areas

Themes:• Mediation• Participatory approaches• Water diplomacy

Focus areas:• Transboundary cooperation• River basin cooperation among stakeholders• Rural areas (irrigation associations and community initiatives)• Cities (business, water operators, local actors)

Why are we here?

• Insuring cooperation requires that we have to learn to do a lot better in negotiation and dispute resolution and to learn a lot faster than we have in the past.

• Across the world, we can share with each other a number of common approaches that can help.

• Inspiring participants to do ‘better’ highlighting some of the crucial ingredients for success in negotation and dipute resolution.

• Identify the general and locally specific difficulties, challenges, barriers and failures that we cannot ignore and can learn from.

A cooperative effort

The conference is hosted by the Ebro River Basin Authority (CHE), and organized by the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC) in collaboration with:• UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP)• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNEC• Global Compact CEO Water Mandate• Global Water Operators’ Partnership Alliance (GWOPA)/UN-

Habitat• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)• International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC)• E)• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)• World Bank

COOPERATION EXPERIENCES

Europe: Sava, Basin, Tizsa, Basin Spain/Portugal, Russia/Finland, Decentralised countries in Europe,

Asia: Jordan, india, Myanmar

Africa: Etiopia, Kenia, Madagascar, Morroco, South Africa, Senegal Basin

Latin America: Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala

Participants

Over 120 participants will attend the Conference among which:

• Key experts in water cooperation• Representatives from government authorities• Representatives from cases• UN-Water partner organizations

Outputs

The Conference contributes to the IYWC and WWD 2013 by producing:

• Documented cases on the practical implementation of tools and approaches

• A synthesis on lessons learnt on approaches for dispute resolution (ADR) and on improving water cooperation

• Proceedings of the conference capturing the main debates and discussions, include shared lessons

• Prepare information briefs and visual materials to be used during the international year

• Feedback on the main messages for World Water Day 2013.

Programme day 1

Water cooperation: nations and stakeholders. Making it happen!

• Opening and welcome• Session 1: Furthering water cooperation between nations and between

stakeholders: making it happen!• Lunch time side event: World Water Day 2013 “Cooperation: the fundament

of global water goals”• Workshop Water Game

Side events:• World Water Week 2013 (SIWI)• The UN Global Compact: CEO Water Mandate and the Water Action Hub

20:30 Official Welcome at the Aljafería – Parliament of Aragon

Programme day 2

Water cooperation in rural areas and cities. Making it happen!

• Session 2: Furthering water cooperation in rural areas: making it happen!• Session 3: Techniques and models to further water cooperation to improve

water efficiency and water services in cities• Wrap up and take away lessons

Side events:

Intensively developed aquifers (Botín Foundation Water Observatory)

Informal meeting on the Post-2012 and ODS process (UNICEF, UN-Water)

Programme day 3

Water cooperation in Spain- Side Event

• Overview• Strengths and weaknesses according to different actors • Other cooperation formulas

Field Visits:

Zaragoza water Cluster

Irrigation Cooperative of Riegos del Alto Aragon.

The conference design

• An open event (through webcast and Twitter);• An interactive event (though the design in interview style plenary and

facilitated game and working group sessions);• An all inclusive event (so that all of us will be given the opportunity to

have their say in plenary and in small and very small groups); • Inspiring (through the examples provided by the actors in cooperation) • And specially as a learning space about how to make cooperation

happen (by being given an opportunity of reflecting on our own experience and enough time for enquiring on the how to improve cooperation)

• A practical event with a focus on “take home” lessons on what would work for us.

Engaging all in the conference

ALL in Small (and very small) Group work and the Water Game

Sharing and reflecting on what helped in successful experiences

Presenters and panelists/ Interviewees

Providing insights and examples for all to discuss and reflect on

Facilitators/Chairs/

InterviewersTo help Focus on results, Key Points & Animation

RecapTo highlight to key ideas

Side events

(5)

To provide a platform to share other experiences in greater depth

EARLY MORNINGS

Field Visits

(5)

To show “cooperation in action” in the city and in rural areas

A Communicating ConferenceCommunications at the Conference:• Daily newsletter• Webcast (via Conference website) and video of the Conference• Twitter (#IYWC)• Interviews• Video Interviews• Press conferences and press notes• Press articles

On the Conference website you can find:

- Information briefs

- Overview papers

- Cases papers and summaries

- Interviews

www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/water_cooperation_2013/

What’s Next?

Milestone events on water cooperation in 2013:

• 11th of February: Kick-off Meeting of the International Year - UNESCO HQ Paris, France

• 22 March: World Water Day - The Hague, The Netherlands• 22 March: High-level dialogue at UN General Assembly - New York• August: High-level international conference - Dushanbe, Tajikistan• September: World Water Week ‘Water Cooperation – Building

Partnerships’ - Stockholm, Sweden• 9 -11 October: Budapest Water Summit - Hungary

We would like to ask you…

• To contribute to the IYWC by reviewing the lessons learnt overview and information briefs and send us your comments

Most important: we hope this conference will have an IMPACT for

your work and basin, with “take home” practical ways of improving cooperation