Overview of the Conference by Josefina Maestu, director of UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and Communication (UNW-DPAC). 2014 UN-Water Annual International Zaragoza Conference. Preparing for World Water Day 2014: Partnerships for improving water and energy access, efficiency and sustainability. 13-16 January 2014

1. Josefina Maestu
United Nations Office to Support the International
Decade for Action: “Water for Life” 2005-2015,
UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy and
Communication
Overview of the
Conference

2. Where are we?
• Since the Bonn Conference 2011
– Stronger focus on Nexus: water-energy
(and food).
– And Many nexus initiatives……

3. What have we gained?
Improved understanding on:
How the scenarios are related/interlinked; How is Climate
Change affecting.
– Challenges are related; What affects water will affect energy
and vice versa.. Although maybe not the same level of
dependence?.
Improving efficiency in the water domain saves energy
for treatment and supply and therefore reduces the
amount of water needed by the power sector.
– Integrated solutions exist. Many examples at all scales to
insure access, efficiency and sustainability.

4. And ..
• A better understanding of …
– the inter-linkages and trade offs- opportunities for
win-win and co-benefits, the differences and
similarities.
There is the risk of going further in
solving one problem at the expense
of worsening the other.
– The many opportunities for co-benefits and
reversal of unsustainable trends..

5. Moving on…
• The innovations required
• The policy responses that can facilitate
this..(financing, incentives, allocation systems)
• The need to scale up at all levels.
• The implementation challenge.

6. For achieving..
Access to water and
energy
Improving water and
energy efficiency
Insuring sustainable
development

7. Initiatives in the UN
UN-Energy
UN-Water World Water Day
Sustainable Energy for All initiative
Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (2014
2024) and International Decade for Action
2005-2015
Examples
United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO)
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP)
WB Thirsty Energy

8. We are focusing on implementing the
nexus through partnerships
• The challenges involved in the Water and
Energy Nexus are beyond the scope of any
individual public authority, business or
stakeholder.
• Nexus solutions can be implemented/have
been by building partnerships to allow acting
together and supporting finding and
implementing effective actions.

9. Partnerships are means to many ends.
They might allow :
• Integrating policies and broaden the scope and enhance the
effectiveness of both water and energy planning.
• Improve water and energy governance by helping to provide
better regulations and enabling institutional frameworks.
• Reach agreements and integration of different sectoral policies
within a sustainable use of water and energy resources.
• Learn from each other success and failure among the water and
energy communities.
• Identify opportunities to improve water and energy access,
efficiency and sustainability
• Implement win win solutions that are more sustainable.

10. Why are we here?
• Analyzing and evaluating the existing
partnership experience.
• Providing a platform for exchange of
experiences of effective partnerships.
• Learning from experience to draw lessons to
buid up effective partnerships.
• Enable cooperation and new partnerships.
Building effective partnerships to better respond to the
water and energy challenges and take advantage of
the synergies between water and energy

11. Who are we? Participants
More than 120 participants from
• Energy (23) and water professionals
• Agriculture (Canal de Aragon and Catalonia)
• Industry (AEAS, ZNNAE,… )
• Government (local, National and subnational)
• UN (9) (UN Water, UNECE, UNU, WB, UNIDO, UNEP, UNESCO, WWAP, …)
• UN-Water Partners (Women for Water, Aquafed, WCCE)
• Environment (IUCN, ECODES, ..)
• Companies (Abengoa, BP, CYII, EDF, Endesa, Repsol, Iberdrola, Carlsberg,
Mapfre, Veolia, Aquamed,…)
• University (Alcalá de Henares, Canarias, Zaragoza, Pisa, Castilla la Mancha,
UBA, Sevilla,…)
• Media.

12. We will be looking at the partnerships experience according to main partners and realms of cooperation
a) Stakeholders (private, research) and
Governments for integrated water-energy
planning and investments;
b) Industries and other actors for efficiency
improvement in SMEs and major Energy
producers;
c) Water and energy utilities for improving W&E
efficiency and management;
d) NGOs and local authorities for improving
household efficiency and for providing access to
basic services of water and sanitation.
e) Policy research and innovation for improved
understanding of the nexus and technological
innovation.
Abengoa: Water for
refrigeration.Dialogs
BP: Water accounting
with Universities
Energy production in
water utilities in
Madrid.
Pro-poor PPPs in
Asia
Geothermal into
energy planning in
Itlay.

13. Structure of the conference
• Day 1: Setting the stage: Scenarios, challenges, responses,
inter-linkages, partnerships and the road ahead towards
World water Day and beyond
• Day 2: a) Making the case for planning and investments;
and b) industry partnerships.
• Day 3: a) Local partnerships (utilities and Las/NGOs); and b)
Research and innovation.
• Others
• Side events: on World Water Day, World Water Week, Nexus
challenges and solutions in Spain; legal issues.
• Technical Visits: SAIH, Ecocity Zaragoza; Villar de los Navarros; Canal
Gestion

14. We will be looking at how partners can
collaborate more effectively?
• By building institutional capacity
• Advocating and assisting in the integration of energy
efficiency considerations in water and water considerations in
energy
• Promoting energy-efficient technologies and practices,
• Increasing education and awareness concerning energy
efficiency and environmentally sound water and energy
systems
• Developing innovative financing mechanisms.

15. And at concrete forms of promoting partnerships
• Funding
“The European Commission Joint Programming Initiative aims to ‘increase the value of relevant national and EU
R&D funding by concerted and joint planning, implementation and evaluation of national research programs’. The
Joint Programming Initiative is a contribution to the reduction of fragmentation of efforts by Member States and
mobilization of skills, knowledge and resources, with a view to strengthening Europe's leadership and
competitiveness on water research and innovation. These challenges are being implemented through different
activities. Calls for proposals of collaborative projects is an important type of activity in the Water JPI.”
• Creating multi-stakeholders action groups
“The European Innovation Partnership on Water (EIP Water) is a bottom-up initiative that facilitates the
development of innovative solutions to address major European and global water while at the same time creating
market opportunities for these innovations, both inside and outside of Europe. The EIP Water aims to remove
barriers by advancing and leveraging existing solutions. In its implementation phase, the EIP Water will promote
and initiate collaborative processes for change and innovation in the water sector across the public and private
sector, non-governmental organizations and the general public, forming Multi-stakeholder Action Groups”.
• Establishing dialogues
Creating dialogue spaces among the two communities and with Governments (IWA/IUCN)

16. The expected outcomes
• Preparing for World Water day 2014
• Partnership generation, ideas an exchange of
experiences
• Case studies, video interviews, information
briefs and other materials for Wordl Water
Day 2014.
• Sharing knowledge and draw lessons from
existing experience.

17. The conference design
• An open event (through webcast and Twitter);
• An interactive event (though the design in interview style plenary and
facilitated game and working group sessions);
• An all inclusive event (so that all of us will be given the opportunity to
have their say in plenary and in small and very small groups);
• Inspiring (through the examples provided by the actors in partnesrhips)
• And specially as a learning space about how to make cooperation
happen (by being given an opportunity of reflecting on our own
experience and enough time for enquiring on the how to improve
cooperation)
• A practical event with a focus on “take home” lessons on what would work
for us.

18. Engaging all in the conference
Questions and Answers
Panel discussions
Panel Conveners as
facilitators
Overview presenters
Open discussion and
exchange
Sharing and reflecting on
what helped in successful
experiences
To help Focus on results,
Key Points & Animation
Providing insights and
examples for all to discuss
and reflect on

19. EARLY MORNINGS
Recap
Side events
(5)
Field Visits
(5)
To highlight to key ideas
To provide a platform to
know more about host
country experiences and
about other key events
forthcoming
To show inspiring
solutions on on “water
and energy”

20. A Communicating Conference
Communications at the Conference:
• Daily newsletter
• Webcast (via Conference website) and video of the Conference
• Twitter
• Interviews
• Video Interviews
• Press conferences and press notes
• Press articles
• The Blog
On the Conference website you can find:
• Information briefs
• Summaries of cases
• Interviews
• Reader

21. The Road Ahead in 2014!!!
•
20-22 January, Abu Dhabi, World Future Energy Summit, Joint Closing Session with IWS - The
Water-Energy Nexus (Thirsty Energy)
•
06–08 Feb 14, 14TH DELHI SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT, “Attaining Energy, Water and
Food Security for All”, New Delhi/India
•
03–07 Mar 14, Chapell Hill (USA) , “Nexus 2014: Water, Food, Climate and Energy Conference”,
Chapel Hill/USA
•
20-21 of March TOKIO: World water Day (Tokio) and 22 of March in Kumamoto City
http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/
•
07–09 May 14 Québec City/CanadaI, International Forum on Integrated Water Management:
“Tools for Action!”,.
•
19–20 May 14,Bonn/Germany INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, “Sustainability in the WaterEnergy-Food Nexus”, Bonn/Germany
•
21–23 May 14, Mexico NEXUS CONFERENCE, IWA Water, Energy and Climate Conference 2014
•
31 August to 5th of September, Stockholm World Water Week ENERGY AND WATER
•
1–13 Nov 14, Beijing/China: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, “Solutions for the Nexus”,
Beijing/China

22. We would like to ask you…
• To contribute to the Lessons Learnt Document
• To provide comments on the information briefs.
• To provide comments/insights/ideas for World Water
Day and World water Week
• To use this opportunity to engage!

23. Most important: we hope this conference
will have an IMPACT for your work and
collaboration
with “take home” practical ways for
improving partnerships!