Just Nancy, in charge of the projects led by Eau Vive in Burkina Faso, shares his thoughts after the 5th World Water Forum : Innovation and dynamism of local experiences Vs. Complexity and Clumsiness of global political and institutional processes …

Interviewed during the World Water Forum, Anne Burlat, architect and town-planner asks the following question: how do water and sanitation projects interact with urbanization ? How do they allow or prevent thedevelopment of the city ? What are the dynamics ?

Evaluating the Forum just a few days after its close is no easy feat, given the over 100 sessions and as many side events held… Before the members of the delegation each begin to focus on their respective field and concrete cases, and use information and exchanges from the Forum to enhance the analysis and approach of their teams, we have asked each of them to indicate the highlights of the Forum.

We have selected six:
1. Participants spoke much more about resources than services
2. The need to better link issues in Water and Energy
3. Wastewater finally front and centre
4. The concept of participation-consensus is no longer “Nice to have”, but is now a “must-have” for the sustainable management of water resources and services
5. A more closely shared vision of the economic issues involved in water
6. And lastly… The financial crisis: risk and/or opportunity for water and wastewater networks?

Despite its timing – late on the Friday 19th afternoon – session 6.1.3 about Education and Local Empowerment in water services, attracted more people than the conference room could host. The format of the session allocated a lot of time for discussion and debate. It was very much geared towards the question of how to harness web 2.0 and mobile technologies and how to develop new knowledge management systems favoring knowledge sharing and co-creation rather than just storage.

Several presentations were made during the Forum, each one dealing with their own local issues and experiences as they tried to increase transparency in their daily water operations. The discussions centred on the right of the public to have unfettered information about their water quality, water pricing and environmental compliance issues.

Attendance was massive and international at the session for local representatives on Wednesday, March 18th in the evening and Thursday, March 19th, and that is one of the best news items from this Forum. Among participants, a large proportion of mayors but also elected officials of other levels, governors of provinces, regional elected officials from Ecuador, Korea, the United States… and deeply committed French local councillors, with particular regard to the issue of decentralised co-operation, made a tangible contribution to help raise the level of policy discussions on the issue of water at the local political level.

SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT will be speaking at the following sessions and events:

* Session 6.1.3. from 17:00 to 19:00: Get involved! Whose and what empowerment will ensure the provision of sustainable water services? Danuta Pieter will be speaking at this session

As part of the discussions held by the French Partnership for Water, we have been invited to present the experiences of Algiers in terms of the connection of underprivileged districts. We have insisted on the central role of the participation of users in the project.

Yesterday, I had the chance to participate to the high level finance panel at the 5th World Water Forum, explaining the crisis’ impact on the water sector. The crisis actually places a severe stresses on water systems, even those that are reasonably sustainable in normal times. However, for troubled systems or those which need to raise their level of service to provide water and sanitation to large unserved segments of the population, this economic crisis can have a devastating effect. What can be done to try to alleviate this problem?

SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT will be speaking at the following sessions and events

* Session 2.2.2 from 8:30-13:00 : the future is now : embedding sustainability principles within water and energy development. Frédéric Goudin, Sino-French, will be speaking about “recovering of energy from sludge” - case study in industrial parks in China

* Session 5.2.2 from 11:00 to 13:00 : Affordable and sustainable water and sanitation services: The role of tariffs an other instruments. Alain Mathys will be speaking at this session

* Side-event on the French Pavillon (French Water Partnership) from 16:30 to 18:30 “concrete implementation of the right to water and sanitation” (Académie de l’Eau & Action Against Hunger-ACF). Christophe Cluzeau will present a Case-study on LYDEC

* SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT international evening at 8pm