IHE Delft’s Water and Development Symposium to explore alternative knowledge systems

The second annual symposium of IHE Delft’s Water and Development Partnership Programme, to be held online on 14 November 2024, aims to foster critical discussions on how knowledge on water is produced and challenge the conventional, often colonial, perspectives that dominate current understanding of water and development.

The symposium will ask critical questions about who owns knowledge and who gets to define what constitutes “progress” in the context of sustainable development. Reflecting on how this power imbalance leads to extractive and exploitative practices that not only harm communities but also contribute to environmental degradation, the event will bring attention to other forms of knowledge that are often ignored.

Themed “Reimagining Water: Critically reflecting on knowledge production,” this one-day symposium has over 950 registered participants from more than 130 countries. As we move towards more inclusive understanding of development, the symposium seeks to encourage water researchers, policy advisors, practitioners, communities and others to explore how integrating diverse forms of knowledge can bring about more just water practices and collaborative solutions.

"We would like to pluralize knowledge on water by giving a platform to less familiar, less promoted water wisdoms,” said Jeltsje Kemerink–Seyoum, the Programme Coordinator. “We hope this symposium will contribute to strengthening us as a community of solidarity, and will inspire us to learn with and from each other, to open up our imagination and celebrate all those other ways of knowing and dealing with water.”

The programme includes a keynote address by activist-researcher K.J. Joy, who will unpack the different understandings of the term “development”, particularly from the perspective of historically marginalized people. During the event, project teams from the programme will also share their real-world experiences of engaging with different knowledge on water and discuss the challenges they face in this process and the approaches they take to overcome them. A panel discussion will further explore questions of how to move beyond merely acknowledging the importance of community knowledge and how do we make the process of creating and sharing knowledge more collaborative.

To view the full programme and register for the Water and Development Symposium, which will take place from 14:00 to 17:00 CET on 14 November visit: https://www.un-ihe.org/events/water-and-development-symposium-2024.

For media inquiries, please contact: secretariat_dupc3@un-ihe.org

Transformations to socially inclusive and ecologically sustainable practices are key to a bright future. The Water and Development Partnership Programme focuses on stimulating and catalysing such transformations within the water sector. Implemented with support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the programme supports organisations in non-European, low- and middle-income countries as they strengthen their capacity to manage water in sustainable and inclusive ways. For more information, click on the link below.