An online event geared towards raising the level of subregional scientific cooperation in the LEVANT region towards sustainable development
Date: 07 – 08 May 2025
Background:
World Water Day, which is celebrated globally each year on 22 March, focuses on emphasizing the critical role of freshwater in sustainable development. It acts as a dynamic call to scientific action to address the global water crisis and supports the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which aims to ensure water and sanitation for all by 2030.
The 50th Anniversary of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) is a milestone, and a moment of observance for the significant contribution of the UNESCO IHP programme globally towards successful promotion of sustainable water management and addressing climate change/water-related issues.
Along the same lines, this online 2-day event serves to highlight the critical role of scientific innovation in ensuring earth’s stability and resilience, emphasizing the need for responsible science that respects the planet’s natural limits and prioritizes the well-being of society and its people. With many disturbing occurrences taking place in our subregion, the true value of nature is often overlooked in decision-making, with short-term financial gains prioritized while environmental costs are ignored. This is despite that science strongly shows that biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change are deeply interconnected. This is clearly indicative that a science-driven, holistic approach is essential to effectively address the complex challenges and build a sustainable and equitable future for all.
This online 2-day event sets the stage for three important roundtable sessions, which will tackle the main contemporary challenges faced by the subregion in its collaborative efforts to achieve sustainable development.
Please click below for the online sessions links:
Kindly note that you will need to register your full name and affiliation before you gain access to the three sessions. We look forward to your participation.
First Panel Session Title: Bringing life to the Water Action Agenda in the LEVANT Subregion: Smart Transboundary Water Management Cooperation (90-minute online session)
Date: 07 May 2025 between 01:00 – 02:30pm (Beirut time)
Background:
Transboundary water management cooperation presents itself as a particularly critical element in all forms of sustainable development — from protecting biodiversity to building stronger economies and ensuring peace and security. The international community hence needs to recall the centrality of cooperation in realizing Sustainable Development Goal 6 and the important role of hydro-diplomacy in preventing crises. Progress on transboundary water cooperation in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal target 6.5 is “badly off track”. Lack of cooperation on shared waters hinders the achievement of other Goals and creates risks of conflicts over dwindling water resources.
In the context of the above, water is hence at the heart of some of the world’s most complex and pressing challenges — challenges that cross ecological, political, cultural, and institutional boundaries. Supported by UNESCO, the Routledge Water Diplomacy Handbook offers a bold and timely framework that integrates scientific rigor with the art of negotiation and diplomacy. By combining conceptual insights, practical tools, and real-world case studies, this handbook equips stakeholders across scales—from grassroots communities to international institutions — to navigate water-related negotiations and decision-making with skill and confidence.
The Routledge Water Diplomacy Handbook (Forthcoming 2025): A New Framework for Cooperative Water Governance; Editors – Shafiqul Islam, Kevin Smith, Martina Klimes, Aaron Salzberg
This 90-minute online panel session presents a brief detail about the different shared river basis and aquifers in the LEVANT Arab subregion (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria) and demonstrates some of the legal tools and the successful water cooperation examples that have been presented in the handbook. If properly utilized, these can lead to better water cooperation in the region versus unilateral adaptation measures that often lead to maladaptation, transfer of risks and tensions. Dr. Martina Klimes, one of the handbook editors, will address how to overcome the lack of capacity as a major barrier to advancing cooperation, through concrete policy responses to emerging challenges, such as the integration between water, energy, food and environmental needs and water allocation in transboundary settings. Strong evidence presented will indicate that transboundary cooperation makes adaptation more effective through the sharing of data, costs and benefits, and a firm way forward towards sustainable development.
The presentation will then be followed by an interesting Q&A session with the most experienced and well-renowned water experts and hydrologists from the region to draw light on some of the proposed solutions in the handbook to the audience.
The Q&A session will be moderated by Dr. Martina Klimes, and who will interact with the panelists for the next 40 minutes.
Objectives:
Celebrating World Water Day 2025.
Announcing the forthcoming of the handbook on cooperative water governance.
Disseminate the World Water Development Report 2025 (online copies). And,
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the UNESCO IHP Programme.
Agenda:
Opening Remarks (5minutes)
Master of Ceremony: Dr. Nazar Hassan, UNESCO Beirut.
Keynote Presentation: Cooperative Water Diplomacy for the LEVANT Subregion
Speaker: Dr. Martina Klimes, one of the Editors of the handbook (25 minutes)
Panelists Q&A Session focusing on the LEVANT Subregion
Panelists:
1. H.E. Professor Mahmoud Abu Zeid, the president of the Arab Water Council (League of Arab States affiliated),
2. H.E. Dr. Hassan Janabi, Former Minister of Water Resources in Iraq and
3. H.E. Dr. Shaddad Attili, the former Minister of Water in Palestine
4. Dr. Tugba Evrim Maden, Policy Development Coordinator at SUEN Turkish Water Institute,
Interactive Q&A Session with the floor (15 minutes): Engage with the audience to discuss concerns, ideas, and potential further actions.
Expected Outcomes:
- Strengthen UNESCO’s leadership in the global water sector.
- Disseminate the WWDR among water practitioners and decision makers.
- Share experiences between the different ministries of water of the sub-region.
Second Panel Session Title: Empowering Change through Scientific Collaboration in the LEVANT Subregion (60-minute online session)
Date: 07 May 2025 between 02:30 – 03:30pm (Beirut time)
Background:
Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) is indispensable and is indeed at the core of implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is true as it provides the evidence-based knowledge necessary to inform policy decisions that are effective and sustainable. By integrating scientific insights, we can develop holistic solutions that promote economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
In preparation for the subregion’s participation in the Science Summit 2025 that is taking place alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) during September 9–26, 2025, this panel session will present an Interactive discussion dedicated to fostering partnerships among scientists, policymakers, and business leaders in an attempt to promote solutions-oriented dialogue on aligning scientific research with community needs in the different targeted countries namely Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
This 90-minute online panel discussion will address possible areas for leveraging science to conserve, restore and sustainably improve the use of the currently available natural resources and crucial ecosystems, emphasizing the need for responsible science that respects the planet’s natural limits and prioritizes the well-being of society and its people.
Objectives:
- Leveraging science to conserve, restore and sustainably use land, fresh water and the ocean and their relevant ecosystems in the subregion.
- Scaling up capacity building and financing and strengthening research infrastructures for sustainable development.
- Identifying and protecting areas for conservation to prevent irreversible biodiversity and to meet the global ambitious goals to protect 30% of the subregion by 2030.
This Q&A session will be moderated by Nazar Hassan from UNESCO Beirut, who will interact with the following panelists for the next 60 minutes.
Expected Outcomes:
- Develop holistic solutions that promote economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability in the LEVANT subregion.
Third Panel Session Title: Pre-session for the Sub-regional Arab Science Cooperation Forum of May 19th – 20th, 2025 at UNESCO Beirut in Lebanon (90-minute online session)
Date: 08 May 2025 between 01:00 – 02:30pm (Beirut time)
Background:
This activity aims to strengthen the science community network in the targeted countries, namely Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria, while considering the efforts that these countries exerted in updating their national strategies in the areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change and resilience in the water sector. This is a pre-session that will support these countries develop and implement their relevant action plans towards sustainable development.
Utilizing the newly updated strategies, UNESCO has developed a questionnaire for the COP national focal points and other invited experts to share their ideas on the importance and foreseen impact of developing and implementing integrated, holistic and balanced approaches, which can link addressing climate change to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. This consultation meeting will facilitate developing a shared vision among the different national governmental stakeholders to identify the direction that needs to be taken to achieve such a vision. In particular, this step will address the major COP recommendations and agreed upon targets such as the agreement of member states to increase their biodiversity protected areas by 30% by the year 2030. This process will also be used to identify the relevant capacity development requirements that are important to invest in at the different national levels.
This 90-minute online panel discussion will again address with a different audience the possible shared vision to achieve the following objectives:
- Leveraging science to conserve, restore and sustainably use land, fresh water and the ocean and their relevant ecosystems in the subregion.
- Scaling up capacity building and financing and strengthening research infrastructures for sustainable development.
- Identifying and protecting areas for conservation to prevent irreversible biodiversity and to meet the global ambitious goals to protect 30% of the subregion by 2030.
This Q&A panel session will be moderated by Nazar Hassan from UNESCO Beirut, who will interact with the following panelists for the next 90 minutes, in addressing the outcomes of the UNESCO survey:
• The 3 national focal points for the 3 COP meetings of each of the targeted countries, namely: Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
• The IHP focal points from each of the five targeted countries.
Expected Outcomes:
- Develop a shared vision with a subregional approach that promotes economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability in the LEVANT subregion.