The World Water Forum is the world's largest meeting around water. Every three years since 1997, the World Water Forum mobilises creativity, innovation, competence and know-how in favor of water. It gathers stakeholders around today's local, regional and global issues that cannot be undertaken without cooperation into a common framework of goals and concrete targets to reach. According to the website of the World Water Council, which organizes it, the World Water Forum primarily serves four main purposes:

• To raise the importance of water on the political agenda
• To support the deepening of discussions towards the solution of international water issues in the 21st century
• To formulate concrete proposals and bring their importance to the world's attention
• To generate political commitment

The Project WET Foundation has participated in every World Water Forum since the 2nd World Water Forum in 2000, held in The Hague.

6th World Water Forum

The Project WET Foundation was highly visible at the 6th World Water Forum, which was held in March 2012 in Marseille, France. The theme of the Forum was "Time for Solutions". Project WET attended to advocate water education as a solution to pressing water issues.

In addition to exhibiting in a triple booth space in the main hall at the Forum, Project WET was a leader in the water education and water footprinting target areas and convened two sessions addressing those topics. Project WET also presented a case study and sat on the panel for a UN-HABITAT session on Global urban access to safe water, as well as co-hosting a side event on Healthy Hydration in partnership with the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk (ICCR). In collaboration with the Korea Water Forum (KWF)—the host of the 2015 7th World Water Forum—Project WET delivered a keynote in their target session to establish a regional water education center in North East Asia by 2018.

Project WET also hosted "Celebrating Solutions through Water Education," a reception to honor leading organizations and individuals in the water education sector. At that event, Project WET presented the Water Visionary Award to Professor András Szöllösi-Nagy DSc, PhD. Dr. Szöllösi-Nagy is the Rector of UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in The Netherlands.

5th World Water Forum

In 2009, Project WET joined more than 33,000 participants for a week-long dialogue on Bridging Divides for Water at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.

For the first time, the Forum made education a theme, where it joined five other priority topics.  

As a result of its contributions to past World Water Forums, coupled with its global work and influence, Project WET led the forum’s children and school education activities.

 

The Global Water Education Village™ highlighted water education’s role and impact in communities around the world as well as connected local solutions with the resolution of global water challenges. More than 20 organizations participated in the Village.

The Children’s Water School was a fun, interactive setting where children participated in hands-on activities to learn the importance of water resources. Here, Turkish teachers and students took part in popular Project WET activities while providing participants with an opportunity to witness education’s effectiveness in addressing water issues and empowering individuals to play a role in solving these issues.

A Special Session on School and Children – Building Bridges to the Future through Education about Water was an interactive discussion involving a panel and attendees on topics including:

• What are the latest educational materials that build a sense of responsibility and create excitement?
• How can we empower people, specifically children and teachers, to make a difference for water through their actions?

The 3rd Children’s World Water Forum gathered children from communities around the world to present their local action projects, which have a positive impact on water in their community. The best five local action projects were selected by the children for presentation to the ministerial conference at the World Water Forum.

4th World Water Forum