Bringing together leading water management and climate change experts, scientists and engineers, policy-makers, lawyers and economists, and executives of water services of local and regional authorities to:

(1) Present innovative and appropriate technologies to address water scarcity and global change effects on water availability and quality, explore the specific scientific and technical tools for groundwater studies and management, and discuss how to incorporate such technologies into short-term decision-making and long-term water management and policy-making;

(2) Exchange ideas on communication among political decision-makers, financial actors, scientists, technical services of local and regional authorities, service and engineering companies, operators, and builders, as a tool for improved management of water scarcity and global change effects on water availability and quality, with an emphasis on groundwater aspects;

(3) Exchange ideas and experience concerning the involvement and education of civil society in water scarcity understanding and evaluation, in the planning of solutions and the evaluation of their consequences, in the learning of groundwater realities, specificities, and significance, with an emphasis on elementary and high school students and their teachers;

(4) Establish mechanisms for international cooperation and experience-sharing among institutions for higher education and research, local authorities, consulting and engineering firms and practitioners, and others, taking into account cultural and historic dimensions and human dimensions in general, in relation to water scarcity and global change studies;

(5) Produce a policy proposal and an action plan for a concrete and practical follow-up to the proposed conference, and also contribute to the IHP-VII, UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme Seventh Phase (2008-2013) and prepare for the 5th World Water Forum (Istanbul, Turkey, March 2009). Specifically:

* the Irvine Declaration, identifying water resources management principles aimed at answering global change and scarcity challenges and recognizing the role and significance of groundwater and the interdependency of surface water and groundwater resources;

* the Irvine Agenda, formulating a strategy defining the objectives, methods, and instruments for the implementation of the Irvine Declaration.