IRS 2019 : 22nd International Riversymposium

Thank you for helping co-create the 22nd International Riversymposium to be held in Brisbane 20-24 October 2019!

Hosted by the International RiverFoundation, the International Riversymposium was first held in Brisbane in 1998 and provides a platform for river managers, policy developers, scientists, consultants, NGOs and community organisations to share knowledge and innovative ideas on all aspects of river and water management.

We invite you to submit an abstract under the theme “Resilient Rivers” in recognition of the urgent need for our rivers and communities to quickly recover from extreme events and return to a healthy state.

2019 Topics:
Integrated river basin management to improve river resilience 
Example: Managing large transboundary river basins; managing surface and groundwater interactions, total water cycle management of urban rivers; water-energy-food nexus; equitable water resource management.

Applied science for river resilience 
Including: Science for policy making; aquatic biodiversity; river and wetland processes; modelling and adaptive management, fish passage and connectivity; evidence-based solutions for river recovery, WASH and public health; social and economic benefits of resilient aquatic ecosystems; valuing river ecosystem services; monitoring, evaluating and reporting improvements.

Traditional knowledge and cultural heritage supporting ecosystems and communities 
Including: Indigenous / first nations water; traditional knowledge; social benefits and livelihoods; preserving cultural heritage.

Environmental flows to enhance river resilience 
Including: Freshwater ecosystem conservation and management, e-flows science, monitoring and assessment; cultural flows, e-flows costs and benefits; e-flows implementation and adaptive management; e-flows policy and law; social and cultural benefits; protection and restoration of free-flowing rivers. 

Rivers by design – from restoration to resilience 
Including: Restoring freshwater ecosystems, river basin planning; basin master plans; water resource planning; water sensitive urban design; rewilding rivers/natural channel design; nature-based solutions for climate change.

Communicating science and resilient communities 
Including: Communicating to multiple disciplines; visualising data; story telling; influencing policymakers; river report cards; river art; river celebrations and festivals; educating youth; sharing knowledge; ecotourism.

Governance, Leadership and Financial Mechanisms to support resilience 
Including: science to policy; legislation, governance and institutional arrangements underpinning river recovery and resilience; river basin scale decision making; influencing decision-making; public-private partnerships; impact investment, river management/resilience funds, corporate social responsibility.

Water security, climate change and natural disasters – building community resilience 
Including: Water source protection; planning for and recovering from extreme events (floods/droughts/natural disasters); community preparedness; community science and participatory planning; capacity-building; ethical principles (gender; diversity and stewardship); building resilient infrastructure, cities and communities

Achieving the sustainable development goals 
Including: Clean, accessible water for all; water & rivers – more than SDG6; leadership driving change; achieving gender equality, women and water.

Other 
Tell us what you want to speak about.