2021 World Water Week | Virtual

Drawing thousands of experts, practitioners, researchers and others from around the globe, World Water Week 2021, a virtual event, will focus on “Building Resilience Faster”, addressing how we can develop solutions to tackle climate change and other water-related challenges.

RTI experts will share lessons and insights from our experiences implementing integrated and innovative water programs to strengthen water security. Our multidisciplinary teams work to improve equitable access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), while supporting sustainable and resilient ecosystems and economic growth. Learn more about our water programs and efforts to fight climate change, and don’t miss our sessions:

Smart, Resilient, Efficient: Climate-proof Urban Water Utilities
August 23th 11:00-12:00pm (EST)

LAC cities face water resource management and service provision challenges due to increasing population and climate change. Extreme events and other climate change related incidents are affecting utilities’ capacity to deliver services. This session will bring in solutions to ensure resilience (including financial), efficiency, and reliability in the service provision.

Managing the New Normal: Water Resources and Climate Crisis
August 23th 11:00-12:00pm (EST)

Climate change is impacting the Latin American Region in several ways, understanding the effects of these impacts in the availability of the water resources, and adopting the appropriate measures to face these challenges is extremely important to ensure the region's social and economic development. This year, the Focus on the Americas program will look at how the region is acting to create a sustainable future amid an unprecedented climate crisis.

Nigerian Urban Water Crisis: A Governance Crisis
August 24th 11:00-12:00pm (EST)

As part of the Navigating Uncertain Waters: Shifting powers, sharing values session, RTI water and sanitation expert Dennis Mwanza will share how the USAID Effective Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (E-WASH) program is addressing governance challenges in Nigeria’s urban water sector, including through undertaking political economy analyses; supporting the development of new policies and laws, corporatizing urban water and sanitation services; defining a regulatory framework; and engaging communities, reform champions, and the media.

Identifying the Potential for Engaging Private Sector to Improve Nigeria’s Urban Water Supply Provision
August 24th 12:00-1:00pm (EST)

As part of the Climate Finance for a Green COVID-19 Recovery seminar, RTI water experts Amrita Mahtani and Arijanto Istandar will share results and lessons from the USAID E-WASH program on supporting plans to link the private sector with selected state water utilities in Nigeria to expand water supply service.

Nature, Wealth, and Power: Multiple Dimensions of Natural Resources Management
August 27th 8:00-9:00am (EST)

RTI will lead a session on Nature, Wealth, and Power (NWP), an integrated framework for natural resources management developed by USAID, RTI, and other partners in 2002. NWP articulates the need for integrating economic, natural, and social considerations into programs to benefit communities and ecosystems. RTI will present three case studies — including from projects in Nigeria and Tanzania — on recent applications of the framework.

Planetary Health Approach: Making Decision-Making More Inclusive
August 27th 11:00-12:00pm (EST)

RTI will lead a session on Planetary Health, a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach that contributes to more effective, resilient, and sustainable solutions in natural resource management (NRM). As climate change and resource governance alter the use, availability, and quality of all natural resources, including water, Planetary Health recognizes the interconnections between our wellbeing and our shared environment resources. With examples from around the globe, this session will discuss where the approach has made the NRM decision-making table more inclusive and data-driven, leading to more effective natural resource and water management.