The Instituto Francés in Madrid is organizing next Monday at 7.30 pm the round table Water, a common good to preserve, which will bring together leading French and Spanish experts. Event in French and Spanish with simultaneous translation.
Fresh water, which accounts for only 2.5% of the earth’s total water, is a common good essential to life. The proper management of water is currently one of the greatest challenges, on which depends the balance of our societies and the living world. In March 2023, the UN warned of the need for a paradigm shift to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 6, which aim to ensure universal access to water and sanitation by 2030. At a time when 30% of the world’s population has no access to safe drinking water and water resources could be reduced by 40% by 2030, we need a radical change in governance and mindset. How to move towards a new water culture and develop a more equitable, fair and sustainable management model?
The round table will include:
– Pedro Arrojo Agudo, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to drinking water and sanitation. Co-founder of the Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua, a non-profit organisation in the Iberian Peninsula composed of more than 200 members from academia, public administration and water resources sector, which aims to promote a change towards a new water culture; and co-founder of the Public Water Network, part of Aqua Publica Europea (the European association of public water operators) and promotes the basic right to water and sanitation in the European Union with initiatives such as Right2Water.
– Dominique Darmendrail, hydrogeologist and internationally renowned expert in the field of water management, water policies and environmental pollution. During her career, she has held important positions as a scientific expert for the French Ministry of Ecology and for the European Commission, as well as a research manager at the French Geological Service (BRGM) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). Their work has had a significant impact on the development of European and French policies on contaminated soils. In 2024, she was made a “Knight” of the Legion of Honor.
The round table will be moderated by Julia Martínez, technical director of the Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua. Has participated in some 30 national and international research projects with special emphasis on the modelling of socio-ecological systems and their water dynamics, the development of indicators of water sustainability, integrated water management in arid zones and the socio-economic and environmental interactions of water-related systems. He is a member of the Water Council of the Demarcation of Segura.