Theme 5: Integration of water resources policies with the national sustainable development vision.
_
Existing conventional policies for water resources management currently lacks the capability of providing water managers with reliable tools to properly manage under the challenging changing climate scenarios. This is quite evident and is clearly, positively and/or negatively, manifested in different variables comprising the hydrological cycle. Although water is a problem, it is an important factor in the solution and is at the heart of global climate action and international, regional, and local development plans. Theme 5 focuses on how policies can address the impacts of changing frequencies/intensities of water-related climate hazards, including water-stress/scarcity, desertification, floods, droughts, and population exposure to risks, unsafe drinking water, water quality deterioration, and populations’ displacement/immigration. Theme 5 welcomes submissions addressing policies for the freshwater sources including rising demand, overexploitation of resources, food security, safe/sufficient/clean/healthy aquatic ecosystems, ending poverty practices/approaches/roadmaps, climate-resilient development, and integrated views of water resources. Topics, addressing biosphere/hydrosphere integration with other environmental ecosystems, robust/adaptive/flexible integrated sustainable water/food/energy economic systems, and initiatives streamlining water into global climate action, are welcomed. Submissions are also encouraged on synergies between sustainable water management and climate action, water adaptation policies, roadmaps to integrated/sustainable/participatory/conflict-sensitive management of water resources, institutional coherence and multi-stakeholder partnerships, policies on flood management and rainwater harvesting, and efforts on capacity building, trainings, technology transfer, knowledge exchange, roundtables, and outreach activities at local, national, and institutional levels.
