On 14 June 2019, the largest UK research community for water, the GW4 Water Security Alliance, met with a broad range of stakeholders (industry, regulators, funders, NGOs) for a full day conference at the M-Shed in Bristol. The key message of the day was that collaborative research to support action is crucial to delivering Water Security.
The conf
erence opened with two keynotes delivered by Doug Wilson (Environment Agency) and Murray Biedler (UNESCO). Both addressed the relations between climate change and creating water security. Wilson emphasized the need for collaboration across disciplined and innovation to solve water security issues. Bielder put the issues of water security in a more global perspective and that nowadays water security is more than an environmental issue and that socio-economic aspects are increasingly important. This requires the building of partnerships with other sectors such as food production and energy.
After the keynotes, representatives of several funding agencies briefly presented the opportunities for funding and the audience could ask questions in a panel discussion.
Finally, the morning session was concluded with success stories of early-career researchers and poster pitches from WISE CDT and FRESH CDT students. Their posters were on display for the whole day in the foyer.
The afternoon session was filled with interactive discussions aiming at community building and creating opportunities for collaborative research.
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