Stafet til IWA kongres i København
Anders Bækgaard, der er kongrespræsident for IWA2020, fik overrakt stafetten af Hiroaki Furumai, der var kongrespræsident i Tokyo.
Ved afslutningen af IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition i Tokyo den 20. september, fik Anders Bækgaard ved en højtidelig ceremoni overrakt stafetten under overværelse af IWA's præsident Diane D'Arras og IWA's direktør Kala Vairavamoorthy. Efter overrækkelsen holdt Anders Bækgaard en tale til forsamlingen.
Anders Bækgaards tale:
First of all I want to say thank you to Japan, Tokyo and our Japanese hosts. Also thank you to the Congress President, professor Hiroaki Furumai. You and your team can really be proud of the job well done. I am deeply impressed.
It has been a wonderful week in so many ways. Just to mention one aspect: Big Sight is truly an amazing venue. And, as far as I know, it has been the largest IWA congress ever and it has been so well organized. It has been really easy to meet people and get access to inspiration and interesting solutions from all over the world - at the conference as well as at the exhibition.
We Danes looked forward to visiting Japan and Tokyo for IWA 2018 - and I must say that all our expectations have been meet. Now we really look forward to getting home and initiate the serious preparations for IWA 2020 for real.
And so - what can you look forward to in Copenhagen two years from now?
- In 2020 we have 10 years left to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. We will do the 5 years status and emphasize implementation and funding of the goals. Ten years is not a lot of time, and I expect, there will be need for urgent action for the sustainable development - and to meet the climate goals.
- We intend to put a strong focus on SDG 17 – Partnerships for the Goals. IWA is an organisation to connect water-people all over the world. To overcome our common challenges we need to push innovation in our field trough international cooperation between cities, utilities, universities and companies. We must share our knowledge - and work together. IWA provides the framework for this. It is up to all of us to fill it in.
- In 2020 we expect a strong contribution to the discussions from the other Nordic and Baltic Sea countries, so when you come to Denmark you will meet experts from our entire region.
- You can look forward to a congress that intend to include new stakeholders outside the conventional water sector: The water consuming industry, agriculture, architects and urban planners, hydrologists, social sciences, ICT-sector, the financial sector etc.
- Shaping our Water Future will be framed in a strong holistic perspective with solutions for the whole water cycle, solutions that are developed in cross-sectorial partnerships. The increasing urbanization combined with climate change leads us to the main topic: Water for smart livable cities
In conclusion – ladies and gentlemen - the venue is the Bella Center and the city is Wonderful Copenhagen. We look forward to meeting all of you – and more. Thank you!
