The Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) at the University of Nebraska is co-convening and speaking in sessions at World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, August 23-27, 2026. The conference is held every year and World Water Week 2026 has a theme of Water for People and Progress, with the event focused on how to build a more just and equitable water-secure future for people and the planet in a rapidly changing climate. DWFI staff will actively host and participate in various sessions throughout the event which are listed below. In addition to speaking roles, they will also engage in meetings with partners and project teams to foster collaboration and advance ongoing initiatives.
(All times are in CEST, UTC +2 hours. Dates and times subject to change.)
Sunday, August 23, 2026
11:00 - 11:20 | Talkshow studio, Level 5 and Online | Session ID: 12570
- Water, Food, People, and Progress – Quo vadis, irrigation industry?
- Irrigation stabilizes and increases crop yields globally and is a cornerstone of water use for the benefit of people and progress. Simultaneously, irrigation may have significant tradeoffs around energy use and environment. It’s now a relatively common belief that irrigation is a social bad that should be limited wherever possible. Over the last decade, food and beverage companies and agricultural retailers – supported by consultants – have argued that negative externalities associated with irrigation are not their responsibility. The irrigation industry – including multinational irrigation equipment manufacturers and distributors – has been largely absent from the global debate on water stewardship and related policy and governance implications. Why is this? What are the implications in an era of increasing concern about water, its distribution, and the uses to which it’s put? In this talkshow, we will bring together irrigation industry leaders to discuss their take on what meaningful water stewardship looks like, as well as whether and how we might consider a “social license to irrigate.”
- Convenors:
- Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute
- Valmont Industries
Monday, August 24, 2026
11:00 - 12:30 | C1, Level 2 and Online | Session ID: 12618
- Trust and Collaboration as Preconditions for Water Stewardship
- Listening to Indigenous water knowledge holders is essential to avoid maladaptive responses and build genuine climate resilience. Indigenous communities often hold deep, place-based understandings that complement scientific adaptation strategies and help communities respond more effectively to climate-driven shifts in water availability and quality. By incorporating Indigenous perspectives alongside technical approaches, water managers can design more adaptive, culturally grounded, and sustainable systems. These connections will broaden the range of strategies available for coping with climate impacts and ensure that adaptation efforts strengthen, rather than undermine, community resilience over the long term. Building on this foundation, creating trust with interdisciplinary colleagues ensures that adaptation efforts strengthen community resilience over the long term. A panel of water scientists, community leaders, basin decision makers, and practitioners will anchor the discussion on trust. Through lightning responses and live surveys, the audience follows a deliberate arc: from finding common values in different interpretations of ""water is life”, through sharing challenges that hinder collaboration, to aligning our efforts to expand solutions across borders and institutions. The session's outcome is a shared vision for strengthening partnerships in developing water solutions, turning relationship-building into coordinated action.
- Convenors:
- Chiefs of Ontario
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
- International Association for Great Lakes Research
- The River Institute
15:00 - 15:40 | Talkshow studio, Level 5 and Online (First 20 min only) | Session ID: 12704
- The evolution of water multilateralism: Tackling today's challenges
- A specialist in water resources and sustainable development, Robert Lenton has more than 40 years of international experience in the field. His new book focuses on the history of water in multilateralism and global water policy. This session will engage in an intergenerational dialogue that explores the past, present, and future of water multilateralism. Some of the questions tackled in this talk show include:
- What does the evolution of the international institutional architecture teach us about what should come next?
- How do we make sure we have an institutional arrangements for water that will meet the needs of the future?
- What should be the priorities for the 2026 UN Water Conference and what will come afterwards?
- How do today’s challenges compare to those of the past? How to overcome them?
- Convenors:
- Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute
- International Water Management Institute
- A specialist in water resources and sustainable development, Robert Lenton has more than 40 years of international experience in the field. His new book focuses on the history of water in multilateralism and global water policy. This session will engage in an intergenerational dialogue that explores the past, present, and future of water multilateralism. Some of the questions tackled in this talk show include:
Thursday, August 27, 2026
9:00 - 10:30 | Room 24/25, Level 2 | Session ID: 12654
- From Policy to People: Advancing Inclusive Drought Resilience
- Drought is increasingly affecting water security, food systems, ecosystems, and human health, with the most severe impacts felt by vulnerable communities. While many countries have developed drought policies and national drought management plans, translating these frameworks into meaningful action remains a major challenge. Implementation requires strengthened institutional capacity, cross-sector collaboration, and inclusive knowledge systems that connect science, policy, and local practice. This session will explore how capacity building, peer learning networks, and communities of practice can help bridge the gap between drought policy and implementation. Drawing on experiences from national drought planning processes, structured training initiatives, and collaborative knowledge platforms, the session will highlight practical approaches to empower practitioners, policymakers, and communities. Speakers will present insights from formal capacity development programmes, including newly developed online courses on drought risk assessment and drought preparedness under the UNCCD Communities of Learning and Practice, alongside peer learning activities such as webinars, case studies, and practitioner exchanges. These initiatives demonstrate how combining traditional training approaches with social learning networks can accelerate knowledge uptake and support integrated drought management. Partners will also share experiences on drought governance, economic analysis for resilience investments, nature-based solutions, and innovations linking water, food systems, and human wellbeing.
- Convenors:
- Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute
- UN Environment Programme
- UNEP-DHI Centre on Water and Environment
- Global Water Partnership
- The Nature Conservancy
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
14:00 - 15:30 | A2, Level 6 and Online | Session ID: 12504
- Innovative approaches and financing mechanisms for small-scale irrigation
- Access to irrigation remains a barrier to adaptation for many smallholder farmers—especially women, who face disproportionate constraints related to land, credit, and household decision-making. This session will explore innovative market-based approaches to expand inclusion and equity in small-scale irrigation, including farmer-owned and non-ownership models. The session will highlight emerging business and finance models that reduce equipment ownership risks and open pathways for women and resource constrained farmers to irrigate reliably. Examples will be shared from irrigation as a service (IaaS), which enables farmers to purchase water or use irrigation equipment more flexibly while shifting equipment burdens to businesses. Some business models also create entrepreneurship and employment opportunities in agriculture, including for women. The session will also examine innovative financing mechanisms that enable farmer access to irrigation equipment. Finance approaches such as leasing, producer off-taker arrangements, and group-based agreements will be discussed, focused on improving affordability and long-term technology adoption. Broader questions around tailored subsidies and blended finance will be considered. The session will begin with short presentations on equitable irrigation models, followed by a panel featuring policymakers, donors, and private companies. Ample time will be dedicated to audience engagement to discuss challenges and opportunities for scaling equitable irrigation across contexts.
- Convenors:
- Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute
- International Food Policy Research Institute
The full schedule and session descriptions for World Water Week can be found here.