On October 15-17, 2019, the World Water Summit was held under the motto “Prevention of Water Crises” in Budapest, Hungary. The summit was opened by E.E. Janos Ader, President of the Republic of Hungary.
The summit was attended by more than eighty speakers in ten plenary sessions, and as part of the event another 16 additional thematic events on the water theme awaited participants on the spot. The aforementioned sessions discussed issues such as the possibilities of preventing water crises, the costs of a potential crisis, the background of mass migration due to water-related problems, and the possibility of increasing investment in water management. In addition, technological innovations, as well as scientific solutions and their fields of application, were also highlighted.
The summit, which was attended by more than 2,400 participants from 118 countries, was attended by the Prime Minister of Cambodia, 28 ministers, 6 deputy ministers and 5 secretaries of state. In addition, several international organizations and six multilateral development banks were represented at the international level, including the president of the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank.
LATMA-ADED (ADED Switzerland is an association developing technical solutions to promote sustainable development in disadvantaged regions.) Was selected as one of the organizations that was given the opportunity to present their activities during the 2019 Budapest Water Summit. Six members of the LATMA-ADED team traveled to Budapest to organize the side event “Best Technologies and Strong Local Partnership”. LATMA-ADED presented their new project in the Aral Sea basin, where they will install water purification equipment in schools in the arid, salty and heavily polluted desert of Karakalpakstan. The presentation was opened by Bo Libert, a representative of the Swedish Aral Sea Society. He reminded the participants of the serious consequences of the reduction of the Aral Sea – one of the greatest man-made environmental disasters in history. This affects the lives of tens of millions of people living in the Aral Sea basin. Kristina Krasnaya, the project coordinator, spoke about the serious technical problem of providing clean drinking water to schoolchildren in the highly polluted desert of Karakalpakstan.
The pilot project, which will be implemented at school No. 7 in the village of Tik-Uzyak, Muynak district, will begin by identifying the most appropriate technology to achieve the goals – clean drinking water for 250 children – at the lowest prices. This should be evidence that the solution chosen by the platform experts is the most effective within the framework of technological limitations and can be extended to the entire region. During the study visit to Tik-Uzyak, students and teachers of the school offered to support the project with voluntary work. The active participation of local partners provides an opportunity for the gradual transfer of the preparation and implementation of the project to local communities, experts, scientists and students.
As part of the Summit at the Expo on Sustainable Solutions in Digital Technology and Nature (BWS 2019 Expo), more than 30 exhibitors from the Hungarian water industry presented their innovative solutions for managing water crises.
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