Cape Town is fast becoming the international water conference capital for this year, with the city and the Western Cape Convention Bureau having won a bid to host its third major conference on water this year.
The International Conference on Sanitation, Waste and Water will be held in November and will follow the International Water Association’s 2018 Water Loss Conference, from May 7 to 9.
The Water Institute of South Africa (Wisa) will also hold its biennial conference and exhibition in at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in June. The conference is expected to attract 2 000 delegates and Wisa hopes to make the conference water-neutral in this time of tight water restrictions.
International Conference on Sanitation, Waste and Water spokesperson Tae-young Yeom said the conference would be aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 6 which centres around providing access to clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.
“Resulting from problems associated with poor sanitation, waste management and water standards, it is reported that over 84-million people (one in ten) throughout the world do not have access to clean water.
“More than 2.3-billion people do not have access to a toilet, while 289 000 children die every year because of the problems associated with a lack of clean water and poor sanitation.”
Wesgro CEO Tim Harris welcomed the spate of conferences on water. “We are currently facing the worst drought in 400 years, and new and innovative ideas on how we can adapt to the realities of climate change will be critical.”
“Securing these important international conferences for South Africa and Cape Town, in particular, where the water issue is so topical and pressing, is a major feather in our business events industry's cap,” added South African Tourism CEO Sisa Ntshona.
The city was, in December, also host to the Young Water Professionals Conference.