Global Water Futures (GWF) held its fifth Annual Open Science Meeting online over three days (16-18 May 2022), with a central theme of "Knowledge to Action". The meeting had 490 registrants and was well-attended throughout. There were multiple plenary sessions with keynote speakers, high-level panels, Indigenous-led sessions, parallel scientific sessions with oral presentations and lightning talks, poster presentations, and virtual social events. Parallel scientific sessions included 59 oral presentations and 71 posters.

Theme: Knowledge to Action

Managing and governing water futures – GWF research encompasses direct governance and management research as well as tools and models to support innovative water governance and management. Day 1 will focus on how GWF knowledge is/can be used towards changing approaches that better respond to climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Water-related risk reduction – GWF is actively generating knowledge, models, and tools, to reduce risks faced by ecosystems, various economic sectors, and individuals and communities. Risk reduction is a clear and critical knowledge to action pathway within GWF.

Harnessing data and knowledge to improve water practice – GWF has invested in models, tools, apps, sensors, and scenarios. How are these being deployed to improve water practice and what other opportunities exist (e.g., artificial intelligence).

Plenary & Panel Recordings (English)

Welcome & Opening
Chair: Corinne Schuster-Wallace

Elder Roland Duquette, Prayer and blessing
Baljit Singh, GWF PI, opening remarks
John Pomeroy, GWF Director, state and prospects of GWF

Plenary 1: Towards Managing and Governing Water Futures
Chair: Dawn Martin-Hill

Keynote speaker: Troy Brockbank, Pattle Delamore Partners, New Zealand
He puna wai, he puna tāngata – Placing wai/water at the centre of Aotearoa NZ’s water future

Keynote speaker: Colleen Sklar, Winnipeg Metropolitan Region (WMR)

Our Waters: Redberry Lake
Our Waters: Grand River
Our Waters: Saskatchewan River Delta

Panel 1: Water Governance in a changing future
Chair: Philip Loring
Panelists: Deborah McGregor, Dustin Garrick, Leila Eamen, Graham Strickert

Panel 2: The Canada Water Agency, towards innovative water management
Chair: Emily Hines
Panelists: Oliver Brandes, Merrell-Ann Phare, John Pomeroy, Michael Miltenberger

Towards Water-related Risk Reduction
Chair: Corinne Schuster-Wallace

Keynote speaker: Steve Burian, University of Alabama
CIROH: Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology

Keynote speaker: Fabrice Renaud, University of Glasgow
Key factors to increase acceptance of nature-based solutions to reduce risks from hydro-meteorological hazards

Keynote speaker: Nadia Joe, University of British Columbia

Panel 1: Extreme events and impacts in 2021
Chair: John Pomeroy
Panelists: Alejandro Di Luca, Simon Papalexiou, Cherie Westbrook

Panel 2: Risk reduction including human, ecological and economic elements
Chair: Roy Brouwer
Panelists: Lalita Bharadwaj, Merrin Macrae, Pat Lloyd-Smith, Gary Carriere

Harnessing Data and Knowledge to Improve Water Practice
Chair: John Pomeroy, Director, Global Water Futures Programme

Keynote speaker: Jerad Bales, Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science
The value of open and reproducible data in water prediction

Keynote speaker: Mary Jane Johnson, Kluane First Nation
Life stories with water

Keynote speaker: Al Pietroniro, University of Calgary
Global Water Futures Advancements in hydrological modelling

Panel 1: Advancing water management with science, and models
Chair: Chris Spence
Panelists: Julie Theriault, Philippe Van Cappellen, Martyn Clark, Dawn Martin-Hill, Lori Bradford

Panel 2: Using new sensors and datasets to improve water management
Chair: Nandita Basu
Panelists: Ravi Selvaganapathy, Claude Duguay, Helen Baulch

Conclusions and Closing
Chair: Chris DeBeer
Closing Remarks: Corinne Schuster-Wallace
Closing Blessing: Elder Duquette

Plenary & Panel Recordings (French)

Parallel Scientific Session Recordings

Human Dimensions - Impact and Management (1)
Water Quality (General)
Water Quality (Nutrients)
Hydrology & Terrestrial Ecosystems (Model Techniques)
Hydrometeorology, Atmosphere & Extremes

Human Dimensions - Impact & Management (2)
Aquatic Ecology
Hydrology & Terrestrial Ecosystems (Permafrost, Groundwater, Soil Moisture)
Hydrology & Terrestrial Ecosystems (Model Developments & Applications)

GEWEX Report

GWF is part of the World Climate Research Programme’s GEWEX project (Global Energy and Water Exchanges – see https://www.gewex.org/). A GWF update and a report on this meeting was published in the GEWEX Quarterly News