World Water Week is the leading conference on global water issues, held every year since 1991. World Water Week attracts a diverse mix of participants from many professional backgrounds and every corner of the world to develop solutions to the world’s greatest water-related challenges, with topics ranging from food security and health to agriculture, technology, biodiversity, and the climate crisis.

This year’s theme at World Water Week is ‘Water for People and Progress’. Tackling the greatest challenges of our time often starts with water. Climate change is most significantly felt through water – droughts, floods, and sea level rise. Water is intrinsically tied to our food and transport systems, technology and even gender equality.

Wetlands like rivers, lakes and peatlands supply nearly all of the world’s freshwater and play a crucial role in water purification, storage, flood control, and groundwater recharge. They are so central in fact, that a world without wetlands would be a world without freshwater.

Find us at World Water Week

Lightning  session:  From Data Fragmentation to Decision Support  –  The Wetland  Atlas

The Wetland Atlas brings together scattered data into one accessible tool, mapping where wetlands are, what type they are, their climate mitigation potential, how many people depend on them, and whether they’re currently protected. Join us for a rapid tour of what the Atlas shows, and why better data means better investment decisions for wetlands. 

When: 24 August 
Time: 11:00 – 11:15 
Location: Dutch Pavilion 

Water Peace and  Security:  The Missing Link  –  Turning Water Data into Action for Peace 

Join this session to explore how the Water, Peace and Security partnership is moving forward to combine predictive data tools with inclusive dialogue processes to help communities, governments, and international partners move from identifying water-related risks to preventing the conflicts they can trigger.

When: 24 August 
Time: 14:30 – 15:00 
Location: Dutch Pavilion 

From data fragmentation to decision support: the Wetland Atlas

While the lightning session described above will give a rapid tour through the Wetland Atlas, this session will be interactive to fully appreciate the power of the Wetland Atlas and simulate its use.

When: 25 August 
Time: 11:00 - 12:30 
Location: Room 24/25, Level 2  

Wetlands 4 Resilience (W4R):  Wetlands for people & progress 

Funded by Sida and implemented by Wetlands International and partners, W4R is a 10-year global programme (2023–2033) to scale up healthy, biodiverse, well-managed wetland landscapes by 2030, driving policy and investment shifts toward wetland regeneration. It develops a W4R Model Approach & Toolbox tested in landscape partnerships in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh, the Ziway-Shalla sub-basin in Ethiopia, and Jeta-Pecixe-Cacheu in Guinea-Bissau, drawing on lessons from long-term work in Indonesia and India.

When: 25 August 
Time: 14:30 – 15:00 
Location: Dutch Pavilion

The Freshwater Challenge:  Restoring freshwater ecosystems underpins societies, economies and sustainable development 

Discover how restoring degraded rivers, lakes and other freshwater ecosystems are not only vital for people, nature and climate but also achievable. Experts will showcase novel evidence on the benefits, financing solutions, global alignment, and monitoring tools that make freshwater restoration a powerful, scalable opportunity for nature and people. Wetlands International will showcase the Wetlands Atlas, an interactive global platform integrating ecological, social, and policy data to guide conservation and investment.

When: 27  August 
Time: 11:00 - 12:30 
Location: C2, Level 2