Call for Registration to participate in the special session organised by the IAHS during the Roorkee Water Conclave 2024 (3-6 March 2024) at IIT Roorkee.

Special Session and Organisers

The special session organised by the IAHS during the Roorkee Water Conclave 2024 (3-6 March 2024) at IIT Roorkee to feature the IAHS HELPING Decade: Science for Solutions held on 3 March 2024, and will be organised by Archana Sarkar, Berit Arheimer, Jean-Marie Kileshye Onema, Ankit Agarwal, Jew Das.

Registration and Audience

Please click here to submit your interest in attending Special Sessions held during the Roorkee Water Conclave 3-6 March 2024. The target audience would include students, researchers, NGOs, scientists, academicians, policy makers, and working professionals. More information regarding the Roorkee Water Conclave 2024 is available here.

Session Scope

We welcome presentations describing contemporary hydrological research efforts, which aim to solve fundamental water-related environmental and societal problems by engaging with other disciplines and local stakeholders.

The increasing demand for water due to population growth and globalization, coupled with the impact of climate change, has made water security a global issue that affects the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of many regions and communities. In order to ensure safe water supply for human and environment, and protecting them from water hazards in the present circumstances, hydrological knowledge is needed more than ever. However, scientific knowledge on resilience and water security is fragmented in discipline, people, and place. There is a substantial lack of synthesis and easily digestible scientific messages among hydrologists, across disciplines and from scientists to practitioners, decision-makers and the general public. Hence, there is a need for the hydrological research community to take the lead and better link local hydrological research with global patterns of the water cycle, and further, to provide science-based water-centric decision support for local sustainable water management.

Therefore, the IAHS is dedicating the next scientific decade to science for solutions. The name HELPING, stands for Hydrology Engaging Local People IN one Global world and aims to identify local water problems in holistic/system analyses, search for solutions, be bold and push boundaries to make an impact. The vision is to solve fundamental water-related environmental and societal problems by engaging with other disciplines and local stakeholders. This special session will focus on the 3 Themes of HELPING, which all aim to understand hydrological diversity and integrate knowledge across scales and regions to achieve sustainable water management in coherence with the local context;

Theme 1: HELPING with global and local interactions using systems analysis, to develop enhanced understanding of the global water crisis but from a local lens.
Theme 2: HELPING with holistic solutions to the water crisis, embracing nature-based measures, participatory management and nexus analysis including other disciplines and multiple stakeholders.
Theme 3: HELPING with cross-cutting approaches to facilitate the above goals, including science communication, integrating new technologies, and fostering local co-creation processes.

The New Science For Solutions Decade HELPING

IAHS has proudly and successfully coordinated two Scientific Decades, which, amongst other things, set the research agenda worldwide through collaborative forces. The overall aim with a scientific decade is to accumulate knowledge and streamline the efforts so that coherent engagement, sharing and focus accelerate scientific knowledge and understanding of a specific hydrological problem or phenomena. It stimulates vivid discussions between young and senior scientists globally. The third Scientific Decade 2023–2032 of IAHS launches a topic for collaborative efforts in hydrological sciences: HELPING, created through a participatory community process and by applying strategic planning. The this Scientific Decade is dedicated to local solutions under the global water crisis. The name HELPING, stands for Hydrology Engaging Local People IN one Global world. This decade is a bottom-up process empowered by local hydrologists and scientists using open science and local data/methods when solving local water problems. We envisage that the building of local knowledge and cooperation will inform scientists working under similar situations or facing unexpected events worldwide.

The spirit of HELPING collaboration and innovation is in full swing and we are excited to share that our global community is coming together to make a meaningful impact to understand and handle the water crisis of the Anthropocene. The journey ahead for the HELPING Working Groups promises excitement, growth, and an opportunity to make a meaningful impact. Currently there are 26 Working Groups attracting from 8 up to 136 people in each (median value is 56 participants). We invite all of you to be part of this incredible adventure. You can join an existing Working Group and contribute to the collective efforts. Together, we will redefine what's achievable and set new standards for success. With joint efforts we can make a difference as a community, and we're excited to have you on board.

Join The HELPING Decade

If you're new to the world of HELPING and eager to get involved, don't hesitate to reach out to us. Our team is not only passionate about our mission but also excited to provide you with all the information you need. A detailed list of HELPING Working Groups is already available, complete with proposal documents and contact information for the Theme Leaders as well as each Working Group leader. If you find a group that aligns with your research interests, reach out to the leader directly. Alternatively, you can email us at [email protected]. Your journey toward scientific collaboration and discovery begins here! Let's unite, innovate, and make a lasting impact together during the HELPING Decade!