“The future of Atlanta depends on economic growth. It depends on jobs for all who want to work, it depends on keeping the City an affordable place to live, and it depends on an attractive and enjoyable quality of life.
But what we sometimes forget is that all of these things - growth, jobs, affordability and quality of life - depend on something even more fundamental. They all depend on clean water.” - Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin

1. Background

Building on the vision of Mayor Shirley Franklin to ensure long-term clean water supply, which is essential to urban growth and development, CIFAL Atlanta launched its first Mega-City Water Forum: An Integrated Approach to Water Resource Management in 2006. This event brought together 80 international water experts to share best practices for integrating supply and sanitation in mega-cities around the world.

With regards to water resource management, local governments are currently facing several obstacles including inaccessibility, aging infrastructure, projected climate change shortages, security threats, and an awareness of the need to adopt sustainable practices with regards to supply and sanitation. The United Nations Millennium Declaration calls on governments and international aid agencies to reduce the number of people without access to safe drinking water by 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that half the water system pipes in the U.S. will be in poor condition by 2020 without substantial investments. Furthermore, governments are realizing that multiple steps must be taken to improve water efficiency and make viable alternatives available to lessen the demand on a shrinking water supply.

The United Nations estimates the number of cities with five million or more inhabitants is to rise from 46 in 2003 to 61 in 2015. Among these, the number of mega-cities (with 10 million inhabitants or more) will increase from 20 in 2003 to 22 in 2015. Burgeoning populations and rapid development within mega-cities strains water supply and sanitation resources and poses environmental risks unless cities can adopt sustainable practices to address the challenges of ensuring a stable water supply.

For the 2007 Mega-City Water Forum, the theme of “Planning for Sustainable Growth” will go beyond traditional planning and water resource management to address and prepare for pressing sustainability issues globally as mega-cities deal with climate change, fresh water shortages, and increasing demand. The Mega-City Water Forum will help local authorities approach water resource management from an integrated perspective, sharing innovative strategies and best practices with their peers from across the globe to ensure a safe and sustainable water supply for the long term.

2. Objectives

The goal of the Mega-City Water Forum is to assist participating cities achieve the seventh goal of the Millennium Declaration through discussions, guidance and preparation of long term planning models for city water resource management. The United Nations’ objective for this conference is to foster peer-to-peer international cooperation by facilitating the exchange of global best practices among local authorities to help formulate a sustainable action plan for water resource management in large and growing urban areas.

Participants are expected to obtain the following specific benefits:

• Understand the implications of growth and demographic changes on water resource management
• Discuss effects of climatic change on water resources
• Understand the benefits of planning for sustainable growth in relation to water resource management
• Develop practical action plans to implement sustainable practices
• Access a comprehensive knowledge base of global best practices
• Establish a world wide network of formal and informal peer-to-peer relationships

3. Best Practice Areas

The Mega-City Water Forum will approach the theme of "Planning for Sustainable Growth" through four broad topics:

Environment
This track will discuss implications of global warming and climatic changes on water resources with emphasis on efficiency innovations to promote a sustainable source of supply and resource management to ensure optimum water quality. Issues such as withdrawal and discharge, inter-basin transfers, desalination processes and other sustainable practices will be discussed and presentations from world-renown experts including representatives from the Water Environment Federation and the Environmental Protection Agency will be given.

Social Issues
The concept of access to safe and sustainable water supply and sanitation in the urban environment will be introduced with emphasis on the implications of population and demographic change, security issues, and building of sustainable infrastructure. These discussions will center on how local authorities can practically provide and secure water resources with burgeoning populations and rapid growth within their municipalities.

Capacity Building
This track will focus on building on the skills levels of policy makers, utility managers and other implementing bodies. Discussions on training, policy formation and decision support systems and building international partnerships will be the main issues of concern for this topic.

Funding
Topics ranging from asset management to privatization to state and locally funded assistance programs and investment innovations will be discussed as a crucial component of financing other best practices in sustainable development and making commitments to sustainable growth a reality.

4. Program Format

The forum will utilize the methodology and knowledge management tool used by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to foster effective best practice sharing among high level city officials and international experts.

Following registration, participants will be asked to assess their municipality’s or organization’s level of competency in sustainable planning for water supply and sanitation issues. This information will assist the organizers, as well as the participants, in identifying the areas where each participant wishes to expand their knowledge, as well as their strengths and expertise that could benefit other cities.

Results from the self assessment process will then be used to pair delegates at the workshop for best practice sharing through a series of knowledge management exercises that will encourage thoughtful exchange of ideas and practical guidance in priority areas identified by delegates.

In addition, participants will benefit from high-level key-note plenary talks by global water experts and internationally known resources available in Atlanta such as the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Forum participants will be able to use both the formal sessions and the informal time to learn more from each other about how to improve their city’s approach to sustainable growth and water supply and sanitation issues.

5. Outputs

Outputs from the forum will be disseminated in the following formats:

6. Participant Profile

The focus will be on executive level participants. The approximately 100 participants will include executive level city officials, managers and other expert participants representing some of the world's largest cities. The current or potential mega-cities selected typically share one or more of the following characteristics:

For more information, please contact:

Jennifer Wilson, Program Manager
Phone: +1 404 446 4178
Fax +1 404 446 4173
Email: environment@cifalatlanta.org