too little
too much
too dirty
WEBINAR SERIES & PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION
ICLEI and World Water Council forge partnership to tackle global water challenges
Contemporary water and sanitation challenges increasingly confront cities with the interlinkages between local water systems and regional catchments. Local governments are the frontline responders to the impacts of climate change and carry the mandate to fulfil the human right to water and sanitation while protecting communities from hazards such as floods and drought.
Against this backdrop, and echoing the CitiesWithNature call to unite and reconnect with urban ecologies, ICLEI and the WWC have undertaken a joint initiative under the banner of CitiesWithWater.
Together, the two organizations strive to foster a multilevel approach to water resilience and governance, showcasing experience of the political leadership as well as the technical experts tasked with ensuring urban water resilience. This collaboration is particularly timely as the world faces unprecedented water challenges, driven by climate change, rapid urbanization, and economic development. By bringing together ICLEI’s network of local governments and the WWC’s global perspective on water governance, CitiesWithWater aims to elevate water as a critical priority in the global pursuit of sustainable and equitable development.
Through 2025, the CitiesWithWater initiative will be driven by a webinar series as well as an accompanying international photography competition. United by their focus on showcasing and learning from the ways that local governments and communities are addressing critical, often interrelated challenges of water — whether it be too little, too much, or too dirty.
Webinar series
The CitiesWithWater Webinar Series brings together political and technical representatives from cities around the world to share insights and lessons from their proactive efforts to build water resilience at the local level. The series comprises four interactive sessions over the course of 2025: three dedicated each to an archetypal water challenge facing cities today — Too Little, Too Much and Too Dirty — and a fourth offering space to explore the interface between these challenges and chart a course of action for partnerships between local governments and the international community. To foster meaningful learning and exchange between speakers as well audience members, each webinar will encourage questions and dedicate time to a moderated discussion.
Each webinar will run for 90 minutes and broadly adhere to the following format:
10 min
10 min
40 min
20 min
10 min
Welcome & introductions
Keynote messages
Panellist presentations & clarifying questions
Moderated discussion & audience Q&A
Closing remarks
Webinar 1: Too little
Off the heels of World Water Day 2025, the fist webinar will speak to the most evocative of challenges: avoiding Day Zero. In addition to presenting messages of inspiration from the WWC and ICLEI’s global leadership, this session will foreground speakers and case studies from several cities around the world, exploring the innovative ways in which they have grappled with and overcome existential challenges threatening the security of their present and future water supply — including droughts, rapid population growth, and competing regional demand. The first webinar will also see the official launch of the accompanying CitiesWithWater International Photography Competition.
Webinar details
Wednesday, 26 March 2025 — Follow this page for more details arriving soon
13h00 CET
Online (Zoom)
Webinar 2: Too Much
On the other end of the spectrum, the second webinar will turn to challenges linked to an excess of water, spanning sea level rise to flooding to sustainable stormwater management. A changed climate means that cycles of floods and droughts follow each other, each exacerbating the impacts of the other. In this session, speakers will delve into the transformative thinking and brave new measures required in the creation of water-sensitive cities, sustainably slowing and integrating the water cycle into its various interrelated systems.
Webinar details
COMING SOON: June 2025
13h00 CET
Online (Zoom)
Registration link TBC
Webinar 3: Too Dirty
The third webinar will shift attention from the quantity of water to matters of water quality — placing emphasis on the often-neglected challenge of sanitation. Rising temperatures globally have seen the expansion of the range of water-borne diseases and pathogens and pose direct threats to the health of urban communities. This session’s panel will reflect on their efforts to safeguard human health and dignity in relation to challenges ranging from wastewater management to water reuse to the ecological health of catchment areas.
Webinar details
COMING SOON: September 2025
13h00 CET
Online (Zoom)
Registration link TBC
Webinar 4: Synthesis
Finally, the fourth webinar will offer a space for speakers from across the previous three sessions to come together and explore the ways in which the three archetypal water challenges — Too Little, Too Much, and Too Dirty — intersect with one another, discussing not only their compounding complexity, but crucially the ways that strategically addressing one challenge can have positive ripple effects on others. The concluding webinar will also see the announcement of the winners of the accompanying International Photography Competition and devote time to the value of creativity and visual storytelling in conceiving, sharing and celebrating futures of greater water resilience.
Webinar details
COMING SOON: November/December 2025
13h00 CET
Online (Zoom)
Registration link TBC
Photography Competition
The CitiesWithWater International Photography Competition recognizes the potential of visual storytelling to reveal new dimensions of complex systems and people’s interactions with them. As a companion to the Webinar Series, the competition aims to open the discourse surrounding innovative, proactive and local initiatives addressing water challenges to a broader spectrum of society beyond the technical and policy realms. By fostering a whole-of-society approach, the competition creates a channel for unique insights that enrich our understanding of how individuals, communities and organizations perceive and respond to water challenges — amplifying the voices of local actors and celebrating innovative local initiatives.
Participants will be invited to submit entries under one of three main thematic categories, mirroring the three archetypal water challenges: Too Little, Too Much, and Too Dirty. With its emphasis on growing the network of actors engaged in the water resilience conversation, the conversation particularly invites young people between the ages of 18 and 29 to share stories of themselves and their communities.
The competition will be officially launched on World Water Day on 22 March 2025 and announced during Webinar 1 on 26 March 2025. Winners will be announced at the final Webinar in November/December 2025. Be sure to follow this page for more information to follow.
Join us in the journey of becoming CitiesWithWater!
For for information on the CitiesWithWater webinar series:
Please contact Laurene Yard and Anton Earle
For any questions about the CitiesWithWater photography competition:
Please contact Luka Dreyer
too little
too much
too dirty