Second International Conference on Water, Megacities and Global Change

Providing the opportunity to share experiences, success stories and lessons learned, in parallel with the programme, side-events will be organized throughout the conference. They will allow stakeholders in the sector to address issues complementary to the conference themes.

• Innovation & digitalization: how to help local authorities solve water challenges? 

Organized by Xylem
11 January | 12:30 - 14:00 | Room IV
This event will be in French.

All water and wastewater utilities now face important challenges such as climate change, ageing infrastructure, the continuous need to improve performance, safety and quality of service. Building partnership, coordinating multi-disciplinary expertise, developing innovative digital tools and solutions is the successful formula to meet these challenges for all the players of the water cycle today, also anticipating the threats of tomorrow, given the uncertainties over the long term. Digitalization and data processing clearly open a new era towards overall water management and give the opportunity to accelerate the move toward a less energy-intensive and more resource-efficient society.

Speakers :

Sébastien Fayon - Responsable du service Gestion du Patrimoine - Schémas Directeurs, SEDIF
Vincent Ponzetto - Directeur Général, Eau d'Azur
Dominique Gatel - Directeur des Affaires publiques/Eau, Veolia 
Frédéric Renaut - Directeur partenariats pour la performance et l’innovation, Xylem Europe
Alexis De Kerchove - Directeur Senior, Business Development-Marketing, Xylem 

• The Greater Paris Metropolis facing the risks of flooding and climate change

Organized by the Greater Paris Metropolis and EPTB Seine Grands Lacs
11 January | 12:30 - 14:00 | Room VIII

The Greater Paris Metropolis is a territory with 131 municipalities including Paris. It faces risks related to climate change, particularly those related to floods. To meet the needs of improving the living environment and protecting its population, it is committed to a planning strategy through its « Schéma de Cohérence Territorial » and its « Plan Climat Air Énergie Métropolitain » and a practical strategy for flood protection. This last strategy allows it to act on the one hand locally on its territory and on the other hand on a more global scale thanks to the coherence and synergy implemented with the basin operator, l’Etablissement Public Territorial de Bassin Seine Grands Lacs. 

Speakers : 

Claire Beyeler - Greater Paris Metropolis
Frédéric Gache - Établissement Public Territorial de Bassin Seine Grands Lacs

Click here to access here the full description of this side-event.

• Waste and Water: preserving the environment together?

Organized by Syctom
12 January | 12:30 - 14:00 | Room IV

Responsible consumption, micropollutants in the sea and in wastewater, plastic pollution, the congestion of sewage networks, the prospects for co-treatment of organic waste and wastewater, the treatment of waste that comes out of the water, and the dumping of hazardous waste in waste disposal centers: these are all problems and solutions that demonstrate the extent to which water management and waste management are linked.
The complicity between these two essential services, which SDGs 6, 11, 12 and 17 make it possible to stage in the megacities and elsewhere, deserves to be told by the actors and experts.

Speakers : 

Denis Penouel - Director General of Services, Syctom
Caroline Chal - Institutional Relations and Strategies, Syctom 
Pierre Hirtzberger - Director General of Technical Services, Syctom
Christine Gandouin - Founder, Aq(t)ua
Fabien Esculier - Researcher, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech
Eric Cesari - President, Syctom
 

• Water and risks in peri-urban areas of Africa and the Middle East: issues and solutions

Organized by the Think Tank (Re)sources
12 January | 17:30 - 19:00 | Room IV
This event will be in French.

The issue of water is often simultaneously social, economic, religious and (geo)political. This workshop will be an opportunity to navigate these intersections, focusing on (peri-)urban regions of East Africa, the Sahel and the Middle East, and to reflect on solutions that ensure continued access to water for the most vulnerable populations in these areas subject to natural hazards and risks or weakened by conflict.

Moderator : Patrice Fonlladosa - President, Think Tank (Re)sources

Speakers : 

Franck Galland - Founder and Director General, Environmental Emergency & Security services
Alain Boinet - Founder, Solidarités International
Martine Vullierme - Executive Advisor ICEO, LHH Services
Richard Balme - Professor of Political Science, Director of the Master's degree in International Public Management, Sciences Po
Bertrand Gallet - President, ACTED

• BE WATER ONE : the pyramidal solution

Organized by Be Water One
13 January | 12:30 - 14:00 | Room IV

BE WATER ONE is a french NGO which aims at protecting the 1% of fresh and available water on earth. BE WATER ONE is a civilian force of propositions, acting in coordination with the authorities. We take into account the strategic dimension of water and respect the living.

The pyramidal solution :

- At the State level : protection by UNESCO World Patrimony of sources of certain main river
- On a collective scale : institutional communication on the value of water, cross-sectional co-management system of water channels and water bodies involving all stakeholders of the concerned bioregion
- On an individual scale : offer simple solutions based on biomimetism to protect, treat and economise water resources

Speakers :

Alain Lamballe - Specialist in the geopolitics of water for South East Asia, Reserve General, author, lecturer and academician
Pascale Bokey - President, Be Water One
Yamouna David - Spokesperson of the International Happiness Observatory, honorary attorney, international expert consultant
Lynda Atton - Member of the Board of Directors of the International Happiness Observatory, lawyer at the Paris Bar
Bindeshwar Pathak - Sociologist and Social Reformer, Founder, Sulabh Sanitation and Social Reform Movement

• How to secure access to essential services through land rights?

Organized by the Think Tank (Re)sources
14 January | 12:30 - 14:00 | Room IV
This event will be in French.

The growth of African metropolises is accompanied by a consequent sprawl of informal settlements, most of which do not have access to water, sanitation or electricity infrastructures. This workshop will be an immersion in the issues of land rights and inclusive urban planning as possible drivers of human and social development in that they allow access to water. The question of sustainability will also be addressed, in connection with the issue of urban-rural relations.

Moderator : Patrice Fonlladosa - President, Think Tank (Re)sources

Speakers :

Laure Criqui - Member of (Re)sources, Independent consultant in urban development and essential services
Moussa Mara - Former Prime Minister of Mali
Rémi Bougarel - Founder and President, Services for Environment
Michael Taylor - International Land Coalition