PRINT VERSION

E-Forum

Share your experiences, innovative solutions/approaches and best practices in managing water for food and ecosystems, in a harmonious, efficient and sustainable manner.
Finding practical, workable and effective solutions to confounding problems and issues as:

• sharing scarce water resources among multiple and conflicting needs and demands of agriculture and nature;
  
• combining productive & income generating activities with biodiversity, ecosystems and natural resources conservation functions;
  

often proves a difficult and challenging task.

What new solutions/approaches are working well, and in particular, what were the general principles and/or conditions that led to their success, are the typical lessons we seek to feed into the conference.
The objective of this E-forum is to provide informed recommendations to national and international decision makers on:

• How to develop innovative/good practices and approaches in implementing water for food and ecosystems management practices
  
• Which approaches deserve to be further supported by national and international decision makers, as a way forward to implement international commitments;
  
• what are pertinent obstacles in developing best practices that national and international policy makers could, and therefore should, tackle to further support and facilitate the implementation of the international commitments.

Process & Timeline

Present - Jan. 15, 2005
Collection of experiences on innovative/good practices in managing water for food and ecosystems. Contributors are called to:

I. Share your case of good practices in harmonizing food and ecosystem requirements through sustainable water management. [Cases database]

II. Draw the attention of the conference and its participants on the lessons/conclusions your case and practice has to offer on:

• one, or all, of the 3 themes of the conference;
  
• a specific sub-theme or issue; or
  
• a pertinent obstacle that needs to be addressed in order to foster good practices.
  

III. Propose a statement for adoption in the conference statement that is clearly supported by your case and its conclusions.

Nov. 21 - Dec. 16, 2004
Discuss and shape the statements and recommendations of the conference on water for food and ecosystems emanating from your experiences on good practices.

I. Moderators will collate and synthesize your supplied statements and recommendations, as well as the lessons/conclusions you have provided during stage one, emanating from your cases (prior to Nov. 21)

II. Draft Statements/recommendations and discussion issues will be posted for your comments and suggestions, by which the public debate is initiated. [sign-up here for the e-forum debate] The debate may be structured by:

• major agro-ecological zone (arid, temperate, humid tropical)
  
• conference themes
  
• issues
  
• lessons, developments, obstacles
  
• local processes, national policies, international commitment for support
  

Discussion of the 3 themes in the E-forum