Contributing to water governance debates of the UN Water Conference (and beyond)

The recent UN Water Conference sparked an international momentum for debating water governance. Though not physically present, different researchers of the Riverhood and River Commons projects engaged in preparatory activities and discussions in order to place water justice high on the agenda. Early this year, during the biannual congress of the Spanish New Water Culture Foundation, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation Dr. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, coordinated with researchers Prof. Rutgerd Boelens, Dr. Bibiana Duarte and Dr. Jerry van den Berge to prepare for the UN Water Conference in New York. His objective was to position water as a human right while integrating this with a new perspective on rivers as socio-ecological entities – a key conceptualization of our projects (more information here). Besides, Riverhood and River Commons contributed to and co-signed the “Declaration of Commitments”(by the organizing members of the UN of Rivers, Deltas and Estuaries) and the “Transformative Water Pact” (initiated by environmental justice organization Both ENDS and water knowledge institute IHE-Delft). We hope that these important initiatives contribute to raising attention for water justice and the need to drastically rethink river relations and practices!