Sponsors:

Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE)
Ministry of Water Resources, Peoples Republic of China

Organizers:

Division of Civil, Hydraulic and Architecture Engineering, CAE
Wuhan University (WHU)
Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society (CHES)
Changjiang Water Resources Commission (CWRC)

Co-Organizers:

International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR)
International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)
International Water Resources Association (IWRA)
International Water Management Institute (IWMI)
Ohio State University (OSU)
China Society for Hydropower Engineering (CSHE)
EU-China River Basin Management Programme (RBMP)

Theme:
Water Resources and Sustainable Development

Background:

The Academicians’ Water Resources Forum is an academic activity organized every two years by the Division of Civil, Hydraulic and Architecture Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). All academicians and top-level scholars in the area of water resources in China are invited to participate in the forum. It has been held two times since 2005. The 1st forum was initiated in 2005 by Tianjin University on the theme of “Progress of Water Resources Engineering in the New Century”. More than 80 domestic delegates participated in this forum, including 14 academicians of CAE and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The 2nd forum was held in Nanjing in September 2007 with the theme “Advances in Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering”. It was organized jointly by the Division of Civil, Hydraulic and Architecture Engineering, CAE and the Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society (CHES), and co-hosted by Hohai University, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, and the State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering. About 400 delegates participated in this forum, including 21 academicians of CAE and CAS.
The 3rd International Forum on Water Resources and Sustainable Development, The 3rd International Forum on Water Resources and Sustainable Development, which will be held at Wuhan University during 22-24 September 2009. This time overseas delegates will be invited to participate alongside the Chinese academicians and domestic delegates. The forum will be jointly sponsored by Chinese Academy of Engineering and Ministry of Water Resources of Peoples Republic of China. Almost all top-level academic institutes with water resources programs will participate in the forum. More than 30 academicians of the CAE and many other top Chinese scholars, including Mr. Xu Kuangdi, the president of CAE, and Mrs Qian Zhengying, the former Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, will be invited to participate. In addition, several international research institutes and organizations will engage in the preparation and organization of the forum, such as the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR), the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), and the International Water Resources Association (IWRA).

Main Objectives and scope:

Water resources are becoming an increasingly important factor influencing, or even constraining, the social development of a region or country, thus drawing more and more attention to the relationship between water resources and social development. Now, many countries have reached consensus that only a healthy water environment can support a sustainable social development. In China, this consensus has even been written into the 11th Five Year Plan as one of key polices guiding the China’s future social and economic development.
With such clear consensus, the major challenge now facing us is: what should we do in practice to ensure that the water resources can support the sustainable social development? The measures we should take must be comprehensive but also integrated, and all these measures should be based on our full understanding on the relationship between water resources and social development. This relationship is not only complex, but also dynamic, and to a very large extent, it can be understood only through scientific research employing the latest technological achievements.
The Water Resources Forum is going to provide a platform to present, discuss, and share the opinions on the issue of water resources and sustainable social development. The major goals of the forum are:
(1) Improve our understanding of the complicated and dynamic relationship between water resources and sustainable social development and exchange experiences on water resources management, development and protection.
(2) Explore the practical structural and non-structural measures that are available to achieve a harmonious relationship between water resources and sustainable social development.