Towards hydrosolidarity : ample opportunities for human ingenuity : fifteen-year message from the Stockholm Water Symposia

This report includes the findings of the first 14 Stockholm Water Symposia. The symposia were future-oriented, interdisciplinary and intersectoral, and have focused on many topics related to three main themes: minimising harmful fluxes from land to water; water - the key to socio-economic development and quality of life; and drainage basin security - prospects for trade offs and benefit sharing in a globalised world. The report helps to understand the problems and opportunities related to securing water for global food supply, achieving safe domestic water supply and sanitation, abating pollution, balancing all water water-related activities and interests in a catchment, and overcoming today’s water management complexity. Human activities affect the natural cycling of water; modern economic and industrial models generate wealth for improved human livelihoods, but pollute water more and more; food production is heavily water-intensive, leading to large-scale stream-flow depletion of rivers in parts of the world; competition between sectors over water resources in basins is high, and so on. Nevertheless, the report says that hydrosolidarity is achievable. Human ingenuity, applied in the right place, at the right time, is what is needed.