7th World Water Forum
The 7th World Water Forum, the largest festival in the global water industry, will take place in Daegu City and North Gyeongsang Province between April 12 and 17, 2015. The Korean government set up the organizing committee in April this year to that end, and the committee started its activities in earnest on August 16 under the leadership of chairman Lee Jeong-moo, president of the Korea Water Forum.
The World Water Forum is held every three years by the World Water Council in order to solve water-related problems. An average of 35,000 participants have joined each of the events from governments, international organizations, private-sector companies, and NGOs all around the world.
During the 2015 event, a variety of water-related issues are slated to be discussed in depth, while action plans and solutions to water issues are going to be sought on the basis of political coordination. The Water EXPO is scheduled to be held during that time so that companies in the industry can show off their advanced technologies.
Past forums have been held under the themes of Thematic Process, Political Process, and Regional Process. In 2015, the new theme of Science & Technology Process is going to be added for participants to share their technologies and scientific approaches to global water issues.
Daegu City and North Gyeongsang Province succeeded in hosting the 7th forum by beating Glasgow, Scotland, by an overwhelming margin in November 2011 at the 43rd World Water Council board meeting in Rome, Italy. It concluded a detailed agreement regarding the organization, budgeting and specific programs in February last year, and taken part in the 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France the following month to promote the subsequent forum.
In May 2012, the hosts gave a presentation to the top management of the World Water Council, including former president Loic Fauchon, about its EXCO Convention Center, the Gangjeong Goryeong Reservoir, and the preparations for the event. Six months later, five local organizations – the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Water Forum, Korea Water Resources Corporation, Korea Water Resource Association, and Global Green Growth Institute – flew to Marseille to join the board to further their cooperation with the council. Also, the Korean government enacted a special act for the purpose in December, and held a kick-off meeting for the 7th forum in May this year to discuss its main topics.
In addition, Daegu City is planning to open the 2nd Water Expo Korea at the EXCO Convention Center from October 30 to November 1. The exhibition is expected to create a forum for information exchange and water industry promotion among regions and countries as a rehearsal for the 7th World Water Forum.