Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Water, Megacities & Global Change, 11-14 January 2022 - ONLINE.

Six years after the First International Conference on “Water, Megacities and Global Change”, held on the occasion of the 21st United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 21), which drew attention to the significant challenges megacities are facing, and proposed the creation of the Megacities Alliance on Water and Climate (MAWAC), UNESCO’s Division of Water Sciences and ARCEAU-IdF1 decided to join forces once again to co-organize the Second International Conference on Water, Megacities and Global Change (EauMega) at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France and online on a dedicated platform for the conference, on 11-14 January 2022. Organized in close collaboration with the Greater Paris Metropolis and the Greater Paris Sanitation Authority (SIAAP), and with the support of many other public and private partners, this conference builds on the results of the online Pre-Conference on Water, Megacities and Global Change, which took place in December 2020. The Pre-Conference event, which brought together more than 6,000 participants, helped the organizers identify the issues requiring further consideration during the Second International Conference on Water, Megacities and Global Change by selected scientists, water operators, decision-makers, representatives of basin authorities and civil society at large. Given their size, the challenges posed to Megacities by water management within the context of climate change are of particular importance. Indeed, they raise new and specific issues that require close collaboration between scientists who advance knowledge, operators and basin authorities (public and private) who innovate technically and socio-politically, and local decision-makers who can support new, just and more efficient models of water governance, while remaining in constant interaction with civil society. Following a Call for Papers launched in late 2019, this publication is a compilation of the best scientific articles selected and peer-reviewed by the 87 international experts responsible for designing the scientific programme of the conference. Reflecting the structure of the conference with its 12 thematic sessions, the Proceedings present all the peer-reviewed articles in the following thematic chapters: • Disaster Risk Reduction; • Sustainable Development Goals & Service continuity; • Knowledge of the technical and social conditions; • Governance modalities in megacities; • Holistic water management; • Land issues and challenges; • Planning tools. • Technical and technological solutions; • Innovative initiatives at governance, technical, institutional or social level; • New water culture; • Strengthening of sustainable solidarity; The publication not only provides a state of the art on the challenges that Megacities are facing in their management of water and of the new global changes they encounter, but also presents the latest innovative and multi-disciplinary solutions being used to overcome these challenges and ensure optimal and sustainable resource management. By compiling a collection of experiences and best practices at global level, integrating the following three aspects – megacities, water and global change including climate change – it is our hope that this publication will represent a source of inspiration for other Megacities and large urban centers to overcome similar challenges and strengthen their climate resilience. By promoting fruitful exchanges and synergies among megacities, research institutions, the private sector and civil society at large, as well as inspiring further joint research studies on climate change and water-security related issues, the conference represents without doubt a fundamental building block of the Megacities Alliance on Water and Climate (MAWAC). On behalf of the Conference organizers, we wish to thank the co-conveners and partners of this second major international Conference on Water, Megacities and Global Change, as well as all the authors for their valuable contribution and their recommendations.

Published

Refereed