W12 CONGRESS: ADDRESSING THE ESCALATING GLOBAL WATER CRISIS-E

Click here to download the full W12 Framework

EcoCiv is one of the organizing partners of the W12 Congress and the lead author of the W12 Protocol. W12 is an international movement of conferences, collaborations, and peer-to-peer solutions for cities and water. 

W12 works with city officials, water experts, academics, non-profit leaders, and finance experts across the sectors of science, economics, engineering, provision and services, politics, communication, and civil society. 

W12 takes a deep dive into water security at the city level. Stakeholders and experts unpack the roots of challenges and brainstorm solutions for providing adequate water to cities now and 30 years into the future. Our collective relationship to water is reimagined. The best current models are presented, and new ones emerge. Contracts are negotiated and new partnerships arise. 

W12 has three distinct components:

1. 1. An academic conference held at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa on January 27-28, 2020. This invitation-only event brought together 130 water experts from 15 countries for two-day intensive conference that followed EcoCiv’s methodology. Click here to view a video about the conference or see below.

   2. The W12 Protocol is a UNESCO-endorsed peer-to-peer tool that is an essential resource for city leaders on water security, helping them to make effective decisions on water management that meet immediate needs and challenges, to gather solutions or best practices and share them globally, and to rethink how water relates to urban development and resilience over the long term. It is a relational database

      The W12 Framework precedes the W12 Protocol. It is a document that introduces and frames our approach to the W12 Protocol and provides sample material. The W12 Framework is now available to download here.

   3. The public facing W12 Congress at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. We are working to confirm the dates for the W12 Congress. The in-person congress has been postponed due to COVID-19. The online event, W12 Online: Urban Water Security in Uncertain Times, will take place on May 18.