International Symposium on the use of nonconventional waters to achieve food security

Venue: Casa de América, Madrid, Spain
Entrance by Calle Marqués del Duero, 2 (Marqués del Duero Street, 2)

Date: November 14-15, 2019

Co-Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Government of Spain

The Symposium is under the global framework addressing Water Scarcity in Agriculture – WASAG – in a changing climate by building momentum with a gathering of international leaders, financing institutions, policy-makers, researchers and the private sector. The objectives of the International Symposium on the Use of Nonconventional Waters is to analyse the state-of-the-art knowledge from current adopters as well as future technologies, including issues related to regional policies and life cycle and economic assessment of water, nutrient recycling, and energy technologies at scale. Ultimately, the Symposium will provide guidance for maximizing the safe use of nonconventional water, especially for agriculture and food security.

The Symposium aims to address the following: 

• What are the existing constraints and challenges to accelerate the adoption of  nonconventional water resources use in agriculture?
• What can be done to remove barriers to adopt nonconventional water use in agriculture (indentification of mismatches in policies, health/environmental/energy standards and regulations)?
• How can nutrients and energy be recovered using a circular economy approach? 
• What is the role of innovation and technology for economic and environmental sustainability?
• The Forum is organised around the following four main themes with strong focus on desalination and water reuse:

1. NonConventional Water and Food Security;
2. Technology and Innovation;
3. Policies and Regulations; and
4. Investments.