At 2015 World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, the International Hydropower Association is joining with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES) to host a seminar on Water storage and hydropower as drivers for sustainable development.

The seminar, taking place on Sunday 23 August at 2–3.30pm, will investigate the role of hydropower and multi-purpose water reservoirs for sustainable development, and highlight the need for water storage infrastructure serving various uses.

It will also explore how the benefits of reservoirs can be maximized for various users to foster and facilitate development, considering the economic, social and environmental dimension.

During the seminar, Tracy Lane, IHA’s hydropower development director, will give an overview of the role of hydropower for sustainable development.

Other speakers will include Joakim Harlin (UNDP) on the importance of water structure for sustainable development goals, and Reza Ardakanian (UNU-FLORES) on multi-purpose reservoirs as a showcase for the water–energy nexus.

These speakers will be joined by William Rex (World Bank), Zeb Phiri (Zambezi Watercourse Commission)), Lin Chuxue (China Three Gorges Corporation) and Li Lifeng (WWF) for a panel discussion.

The examples presented by speakers and panellists will draw on recent as well as newly planned reservoirs, and those with adapted management schemes and/or retrofitted infrastructure enabling multiple uses.

New options for operation and governance of reservoirs will be analysed, and challenges related to the environment and the society will be identified, focusing on integrated governance, including infrastructure financing, community participation and life-cycle assessment methods for water storage infrastructure.

The seminar follows on from last year’s collaboration between IHA, UNU-FLORES and the Centre for Environmental Design of Renewable Energy (CEDREN) on water as energy storage. You can download a policy brief from the seminar here.

You can find out more about the World Water Week programme here.