17 December 2010: The international conference on “Sustainable Water Management in Cities: Engaging Stakeholders For Effective Change and Action” took place in Zaragoza, Spain, from 13-17 December 2010.

The meeting brought together over 200 experts, local government officials, media specialists, key water operators and political representatives of cities and stakeholder groups to discuss the issues and propose practical ways to move forward to meet the challenges of achieving water and sanitation for all, of disseminating results to a wider audience, and considering different development contexts and regional characteristics. The meeting was also an intermediary step in the preparation for World Water Day 2011, which focuses on the issue of urban water management. During the conference, participants aimed to: identify best approaches to promote effective change at different scales; analyze how cities, local authorities and other key stakeholders have effectively addressed issues of social inclusion in urban water management; and identify how to improve urban water management through sharing lessons from recent city experiences.

The conference was jointly organized by the UN Office to Support the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Life’ 2005-2015, which implements the UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication, the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the city of Zaragoza, and the SWITCH consortium – which includes both UNESCO-IHE and the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. [Conference Website]