"Water in a world in transition", the next round table at the University of Montpellier!

On Wednesday December 6, 2023, the University of Montpellier is organizing a round table on the subject of "Water in a world in transition", moderated by Olivier Biscaye, Editorial Director of Midi Libre. This round table is part of the "national day of ecological transition for sustainable development in the ESR" organized at the University of Montpellier by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

This round table will take place from 6pm in the Charles Flahault amphitheatre, at the University of Montpellier's Botany Institute, in the presence of Philippe Augé, President of the University of Montpellier, Jacques Mercier, Vice-President Research of the University of Montpellier, and Eric Servat, Director of the UNESCO ICIREWARD International Centre.

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The round table in a nutshell

Recent events concerning water resources and extreme weather events, in France and elsewhere in the world, underline the crucial importance and universality of water-related issues. Water is present in all sectors of human life and activity: industry, agriculture, energy, leisure, etc. It is an ever-present part of our daily lives.

Climate change, which is leading to ever-increasing water stress in many parts of the world, population growth and rapid, sometimes out-of-control urbanization, are creating profound upheavals and often challenging existing water resource management methods. In a world in transition, faced with numerous challenges in terms of both resource quantity and quality, the issue of water is clearly one that will only grow in importance in the years and decades to come, potentially generating additional tensions and conflicts on all scales across the planet.

As a result, a comprehensive, shared approach to the subject is now an imperative. It must address all issues relating to water resources, their evolution, accessibility and quality, the constraints on their use, the major challenges to be met (agriculture, contamination, sanitation, appropriate infrastructures, etc.), as well as existing avenues for improvement and innovation (reuse of wastewater, storage, etc.), etc. Not forgetting the question of resource sharing and the need to regenerate multi-stakeholder dialogue to best address it.

In order to meet this ambitious but inescapable objective, the " Water in a world in transition " round table will seek to make a contribution based on the need for a clear-sighted assessment, which obliges us collectively to define adaptations, changes and innovations commensurate with the challenges we face.