10^th Water Research Horizon Conference at BGR: Water Security and Food Security - new approaches for interdisciplinary research

"Water Security and Food Security" have been the themes of the 10^th Water Research Horizon Conference, which took place on 18 and 19 June 2019 at the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Hannover, Germany. BGR, together with the Water Science Alliance e.V., was the organizer of the conference, which was attended by around 150 scientists from 20 countries. The event not only discussed current developments in research and development cooperation. It also discussed new proposals for future topics in water research, as well as aspects of the interaction between water resources and food production.

Expert exchange on water and food security issues Source: BGR

Prof. Dr. Ralph Watzel, President of BGR, was pleased with the lively exchange with experts from different scientific disciplines: "We have succeeded in developing an interesting program with contributions from various disciplines on the key future topics of water security and food security." The President also emphasized the importance of the Water Science Alliance as a central platform in Germany for the interdisciplinary exchange on water research related topics: "BGR supports the interest of the Water Science Alliance for a better positioning and visibility of water research in Germany and in the international context. As a new member of this alliance we hope for further synergies with other universities, research and scientific institutions."

The Water Science Alliance can point to the fact that it has now established itself as a national platform for the water sciences and as a contact point for the other sciences, research funding and politics. "We are particularly pleased about the further increase in members, including also BGR, which we can welcome as our 50^th member ", as Prof. Dr. Peter Krebs, Chairman of the Water Science Alliance expressed.

This year’s conference addressed key global issues in the field of water supply and food security. Prof. Dr. Thomas Himmelsbach, Director of the Department "Groundwater and Soil Science": "The question is: How can we produce sufficient food of good quality for future generations without putting too much strain on our water resources? This particularly affects regions of the world with increasingly overstretched water resources. But Germany is also in the focus if we think of the tensions between efficient agriculture and practiced environmental protection."

In addition to questions about water availability and quality for safe food production, topics such as securing a sufficient drinking water supply were also addressed in the program. Contributions by the Harzwasserwerke, a regional water utility providing drinking water to many cities in Northern Germany, and the South African Western Cape Region addressed particularly the increasing challenges for a secure urban drinking water supply. The dramatic shortage of water in Cape Town had recently attracted global attention, underlining once again the importance of sustainable water management.

The 10^th Water Research Horizon Conference, with contributions from German federal ministries, two keynotes, twice three parallel sessions and eight open space workshops, offered a wide range of specialist topics in the field of "Water Security and Food Security". Individual session topics went far beyond the traditional water topics of natural and engineering sciences: "Economics of Food and Water", "Managing Water Storage Capacities" and "Making the Most of Marginal Water". The conference discussed new priorities for future water research.

Participants of the 10th Water Research Horizon Conference, 18-19 June 2019 at BGR Source: BGR