Highlights of the Netherlands’ activities at World Water Forum 2024
The 10th World Water Forum (WWF), the largest international conference in the water sector, took place from 18 to 25 May in Bali, Indonesia. The Netherlands Pavilion witnessed many exciting Dutch water sector activities. Let’s take a look at some of them.
The Netherlands Pavilion was designed to continue positioning the Netherlands as a country with great skills in dealing with global water challenges, and a provider of innovative approaches and state-of-the-art solutions for water security worldwide. To achieve this, the Pavilion was an open, inclusive and inventive space that invited both exhibitors and visitors to come together, strengthening existing partnerships and creating new ones.
The Pavilion boasted an extensive programme with three main themes: ‘Water for resilient cities and deltas’, ‘Water for food and energy’ and ‘Clean and safe water for all’.
Start of a wave
The week kicked off with the launch of the Indonesian Wave. As Sabrina Farah Salsabilla, Chief Marketing Officer at ReservoAir, explains, this is “A youth-led intergenerational network that connects initiatives, merges resources, and enables collaboration, while adapting to local contexts to achieve the Water Action Agenda goal of educating one million children per year.”
Indonesian Wave is an initiative of Wavemakers United and is part of the Center of Excellence (CoE) for Water and Climate Resilience in the Asia Pacific region. The CoE, established at the Forum, will serve as a collaboration platform for countries in the global south that frequently face water and water management related disasters.
Wavemakers United and the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works and Housing signed a Letter of Intent, affirming their commitment to collaborate under the umbrella of the new CoE. Tilly Stroo, Founder of Wavemakers United, explained that “By signing this at such a significant platform as the WWF, Indonesia and the Netherlands demonstrate their continued investment in youth participation. Not just at WWFs, but in the future as well.”
Dutch Water Envoy in the house
Meike van Ginneken, Special Envoy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for International Water Affairs, attended the WWF. She took part in various sessions, sharing Dutch water know-how and learning from other countries, past experiences and recent activities. “I would like to congratulate the Indonesian Government on bringing together the whole water world here at the WWF. It has been a great opportunity to celebrate our long-standing and productive bilateral cooperation with Indonesia,” said Van Ginneken.
The Forum also gave Van Ginneken the opportunity to be updated on the progress that the Netherlands has made on the Water Action Agenda. “At the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York, we agreed to more than 800 water actions. Today, the Water Action Agenda is in full swing with Dutch companies, NGOs and the Government being part of many of these actions at community, local and national level.”
A matter of perseverance
Water as Leverage and Partners for Water, both Dutch programmes, hosted a session to discuss existing bilateral collaboration regarding inclusive delta development with the Netherlands’ seven partner countries, namely Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mozambique, and Vietnam.
Water as Leverage brings together cities, designers, engineers, and financiers to enhance urban resilience to climate change. As improving global water security requires perseverance, long-term partnerships with other countries are essential. The session included room to discuss enhancing the current approach and engaging local partners effectively. In addition, insights gained from projects undertaken in the partner countries were shared.
Launch of first IPDC report
The Netherlands Pavilion was the chosen stage for the launch of the first International Panel on Deltas and Coastal Areas (IPDC) report. The report introduces the IPDC Guidance Framework for member countries and sets out the challenges to deltas, coasts, and islands. The report is also a solid basis for the IPDC’s future activities. Van Ginneken presented the report and handed it to two esteemed IPDC members, Pak Leo Eliasta of Indonesia and Walid Hakiki of Egypt.
The report was compiled by a group of international experts from the IPDC member countries, Rebel, Climate Adaptation Services, and Deltares.
Connections & shared knowledge
Amongst the many visitors to the Netherlands Pavilion was Basuki Hadimuljono, Indonesia’s Minister of Public Works and Housing, who spoke with members of the Dutch delegation. “I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the Minister about the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands, and particularly about the water sector. I believe this relationship will always be strong, equal and beneficial,” said Nishchal Sardjoe, Senior Water Management specialist at Deltares Indonesia.
By the end of the week, more than 25 sessions had been held at the Pavilion. These were hosted by: Bandung Technische Hoogeschool Fonds (BTHF), BESE BV, Danone, Deltares Netherlands, EcoShape Consortium, International Panel on Deltas, Coasts and Islands (IPDC), MetaMeta, Nazava Indonesia, NX Filtration, Partners for Water, Royal HaskoningDHV, Simavi, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, the International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC), UN-Habitat, Valuing Water Initiative (VWI), Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors, WaterWorX (VEI, WereldWaternet and Oasen), Water as Leverage, Water Footprint Implementation, Wavemakers United/Nuffic/The Water Agency, Wetskills Foundation, and Yayasan Plan International Indonesia.
