The 2015 Zaragoza Conference will provide a space for dialogue around some selected topics relevant to the implementation of the international agenda on water. The Conference will focus on a practical examination of what the necessary transformations are and how institutional change, technology, capacity development and financing can help develop appropriate joint responses. It will look at the essential similarities -learning from each other- and critical differences e.g. regional and country differences. It will draw from practical experience of Member States and stakeholder groups.

1. 2015 UN-Water Zaragoza
Conference
Water and Sustainable
Development:
From Vision to Action
15-17th January 2015
Kick-Start of the (year long) dialogue on the theme

2. The Conference
The 7th annual UN-Water Zaragoza Conference
This conference is part of the road map
for World Water Day 2015
This is also the last conference of the
International Water for Life Decade

3. Organized by
• UN-Water Decade Programme on Advocacy
and Communication (UNW-DPAC)
• Aquafed
• Cap-Net
• CEO Water Mandate
• CONAGUA (Mexico)
• Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO)
• Global Water Partnership (GWP)
• Government of Holland, Spain and others
• Itaipu Binacional
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD)
• Secretariat of the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD)
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
• United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs (UNDESA)
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
(UNECE)
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO)
• United Nations International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction (UNISDR)
• United Nations University (UNU)
• UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity
Development (UNW-DPC)
• Universities of Zaragoza, Michigan, Middesex,
Osnabruck and Oxford
• WASH Advocates
• WaterAid
• World Resources Institute
• World Council of Civil Engineers
• Women for Water Partnership (WfWP)
• The World Bank (tbc)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• World Youth Parliament for Water (WYPW)

4. The focus
•Practical examination of the necessary transformations for implementing the
post 2015 international agenda on water, in relation to specific themes:
WASH, Water Resources Management (scarcity focus), Water Quality,
and Risks.
•How specific tools such as technology, capacity development,
governance, financing – and economic instruments- can help develop
appropriate joint responses, (including issues of scaling up and transitioning).
•The role of different actors and how they can contribute, specifically
Business, Governments (including Local Governments), Civil Society,
Academia, and Media.
•Appropriateness and transferability of different tools and approaches in
different contexts/regions: pan-European and North America region,
Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean.

5. Tools
Themes Actors
A 3D
CONFERENCE
focused on
implementation tools

6. Participants
• Max 150 - 300 participants
• United Nations Agencies and
Programmes
• Practitioners
• Representatives of the business
community
• Governmental and non-governmental
organizations
• Civil Society

7. The type of event
The UN-Water Zaragoza Conferences provide a
space for open dialogue.
Where the UN reaches out to stakeholders and
practitioners

9. What dialogue?
• A diverse dialogue: Provides a platform for exchange of
experiences: inter-disciplinary, inter-scale, between the
academia, international organizations, NGOs, public and private
sectors;
• A practical dialogue: It will draw from practical experience in the
United Nations, Member States, stakeholder groups and
practitioners. Analyzing and evaluating the existing use of tools
and the main challenges for implementing them;
• A reflective dialogue: It will look at the essential similarities
-learning from each other- and critical differences e.g. regional
and country differences, stakeholder views differences;
• A useful dialogue: Draws conclusions on lessons learnt relevant
to the international water agenda.

10. Expected outcomes
• A compendium of references/guidance on
different tools for implementation illustrated by
cases.
• A Conference report on lessons learnt from
implementation.
• A series of documented case studies, video
interviews, information briefs and other
materials.
• Learning and knowledge exchange among
Conference participants through
interdisciplinary discussions.

11. Our participants have said!
• We want more conferences like this.
• Timely, well selected FOCUS.
• We like the open and thorough
discussions.
• The presence of practitioners make it
lively, engaging and specially meaningful.
• It is of great value to kick start the year
with such a thorough brief on the issue.
• Very well organised! Good timely reports.
• More time for
conversations
please..
• Too intense!

12. Welcome to Zaragoza
Register at www.un.org/waterforlifedecade