Context
The world is facing a global water crisis. Continuing population growth and urbanisation, rapid industrialisation and expanding and intensifying food and goods production are all putting pressure on water resources. Climate change exacerbates the problems of water availability.
- Water quality decreases globally (over fertilisation, non-treatment of sewage, micropollutants and endocrine disruptors, etc.)
- Aquatic ecosystems are degraded and oceans overfished
- Changing consumption patterns lead to larger water footprints
- Increasing lack of water in quantity and quality results in limited development
- Food security and health are jeopardised
- Upstream-downstream conflicts increase within countries, regions or economic sectors (industry, agriculture, population)
The lack of sustainable use and management of global water resources undermines progress and development. Yet, integrated water management and sustainable sanitation are barely implemented, and synergies within different groups of interest are underemphasised. Where used, proper treatment and reuse of wastewater is, worldwide, the exception rather than the norm – despite the urgent need for water and nutrients in agriculture and the contamination of aquatic ecosystems. Different stakeholders (water suppliers, industry, agriculture, households, sewage management etc.) generally fulfil their water needs without taking into account the impact on other stakeholders. This lack of coordination leads to an overuse and waste of water resources.
Single sector approaches, such as wastewater treatment or river basin management, are limited in their actions. To save and recycle water, regain resources, and to protect aquatic ecosystems, the whole water cycle needs to be taken into account in an integrated, holistic way – linking up reuse-oriented sanitation approaches (including solid waste management) with Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM).
Even though the need for new approaches to face the global water crisis has been globally recognised, the implementation of sustainable water management and sanitation concepts is still not yet widely spread due to a lack of experts and businesses that offer services in the field.
Hot Topics
"Involving the private sector to curb water corruption": cewas, together with GIZ and the Water Integrity Network (WIN), organised a side event in order to promote water integrity and curb corruption at the 6th World Water Forum, 16th of March 2012. Read more...
The "Willisauer Bote" published an article about the start of the 2nd Start-Up Programme. It highlights the new possibility of gaining credit points (ECTS) which can be credited for the tertiary education. Download the article here.
The first cewas Forum on Business Development for Sustainable Sanitation and Water Management has been a great success. Download the conference presentations here.
The new cewas agenda for 2012 is out now. Download it here and reserve the dates.
The new cewas flyer is out now. Download it here and share it with your network.
BPD Blog: Why sanitation should be envious of funeral parlours – the challenge of the ‘missing middle’. Read more...
What will the international Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector look like in 10 years from now? The IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre has launched a new report scanning the 2020 horizon: An analysis of trends and scenarios in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector.
WSSCC’s new advocacy campaign “GDP for GDP” is focusing on the economic benefits of investing in sanitation.
Find out more on www.wsscc.org.
cewas signs Memorandum of Understanding with ICLEI Africa (Local Governments for Sustainability).
Read the international press release.
Francois Münger, Head of the Water Initiatives Division at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) talks about cewas in a article on "the potential of clean technologies for the water sector".
Have a look at the article of Elina Hiltunen, a forsight expert on "No business like the water business"
