Water is essential for all life forms. It is a fundamental resource necessary for human well-being and ecosystem functioning. At the same time, water is a resource under considerable pressure. Due to increasing water demand, global change and a multitude of use conflicts the sustainable management of water is central for future societal developments.

The concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) has gained wide acceptance as the best way to tackle these challenges. The goal is to promote economic and social developments by addressing and balancing diverse use interests, while simultaneously safeguarding water resources. However, current water management practices are far from fulfilling these objectives for different reasons. In some cases, adequate management structures and techniques are not available while in other cases existing management approaches fail in properly addressing the key problems.

In the research funding initiative of the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) on Integrated Water Resources Management, results from science are put into practice. Significant effort in collaborative research projects and other international research activities aim at the development of adaptive and transferable water resources management tools. The focus of the conference is to present respective scientific results and real-world experiences of IWRM implementation in order to discuss "lessons learnt" and explore innovative perspectives beyond IWRM.

The conference will provide a great opportunity for scientists, practitioners, water managers and professionals from economy, administration, international agencies, private institutions and consulting establishments to come together to express their opinions and interest. We expect several hundred delegates to attend the conference.