International Conference 2023

Call for submissions for the conference “Rainwater Harvesting: A Sustainable Solution for Climate Change Resilience and Achieving SDGs.

This conference aims to support the growing lobby for investment and rainwater-harvesting policies by providing evidence of success stories from South Asia and other parts of the globe. This conference will provide a platform for practitioners, activists, and rainwater enthusiasts to showcase their research, products and innovations, and services related to rainwater harvesting.

Submissions are invited as extended abstracts, posters, video clips, and infographics on the following themes. (Posters, video clips, and infographics can be submitted in local languages accompanied by translation/subtitles as appropriate. )

The themes:

1.Rainwater harvesting is a means of achieving safe water and sanitation at the household level.
In South Asia and several regions across the globe, many communities are deprived of safe water for drinking and other household needs and sanitation. Lack of access to safe water and sanitation leads to health concerns and the expenses on health could cause a dent in the national economies.

Regions that cannot be provided pipe-borne water supply could access water needs by adopting roof water harvesting. This requires access to information and skill available on roof water harvesting technologies, and adequate investments. Furthermore, there has to be also monitoring and testing of the harvested water quality.

Abstracts and other forms of submission could focus on the theme 1 and sub-themes of technology innovations for roof water harvesting for households, creating, and building the capacity at the community level among masons, plumbers and water quality testing on rainwater harvesting, promoting investments for rainwater harvesting to meet domestic safe water and sanitation needs.

2. Addressing climate variability impacts through RWH: Climate change adaptation, floods and droughts, biodiversity and ecosystem enhancement.
Climate variability increasing atmospheric heat could result in the frequency of droughts, floods and destruction of biodiversity and ecosystems. Rainwater harvesting has been proven as a measure of meeting the challenge of drought and as a flood mitigation measure. Large rainwater harvesting ponds have helped to maintain flora and fauna and ecosystems as well as increase the groundwater levels. While retaining structure to manage rainwater is being practised as a flood mitigation measure.

Abstracts and other forms of submission could focus on theme 2 and sub-themes of rainwater harvesting technologies and practices as an answer for regions battered by the drought, road runoff water harvesting and flood mitigation, rainwater harvesting for ecosystem enhancement etc.

3. Meeting the demand for access to clean water for vulnerable and indigenous groups.
In many communities across the globe, women manage the household food and water demands. Many women are burdened with the task of travelling several kilometres to fetch water for their family’s water requirements. However, the elderly and physically and mentally challenged groups in families are constrained further with a lack of access to clean water as they lack the physical ability to walk long distances to fetch water. Therefore they become further challenged in meeting their daily chores. The lack of access to clean water also restricts access to education for girl children in many regions over the world. Labour migration of male members in families of indigenous groups residing in forest areas during drought periods reduces family and community level engagement in cultural rituals. Across the globe out-migration during drought periods by males has been identified as an impediment to preserving indigenous cultural heritage.

Abstracts and other forms of submission could focus on theme 3 and sub-themes of rainwater harvesting as a measure of addressing the vulnerability of women, the elderly and the physically and mentally challenged, and rainwater harvesting as a measure towards maintaining cultural heritage.

4. Rainwater harvesting is a measure for mitigating the adverse environmental effects of rapid urbanization.
In many communities across the globe, women manage the household food and water demands. Many women are burdened with the task of travelling several kilometres to fetch water for their family’s water requirements. However, the elderly and physically and mentally challenged groups in families are constrained further with a lack of access to clean water as they lack the physical ability to walk long distances to fetch water. Therefore they become further challenged in meeting their daily chores. The lack of access to clean water also restricts access to education for girl children in many regions over the world. Labour migration of male members in families of indigenous groups residing in forest areas during drought periods reduces family and community level engagement in cultural rituals. Across the globe out-migration during drought periods by males has been identified as an impediment to preserving indigenous cultural heritage.

Abstracts and other forms of submission could focus on theme 3 and sub-themes of rainwater harvesting as a measure of addressing the vulnerability of women, the elderly and the physically and mentally challenged, and rainwater harvesting as a measure towards maintaining cultural heritage.

5. Socioeconomic benefits and risks of RWH and transforming livelihoods.
The practice of rainwater harvesting is becoming popular for industries and domestic use as the growing demands for water cannot be relied on the availability of groundwater or surface water, especially in areas that are prone to drought.

Using harvested rainwater is an excellent way of reducing the water and carbon footprint. Widely adopting rainwater harvesting will also help prevent the depletion of groundwater. Rainwater harvesting can support livelihoods that rely on the availability of water such as agriculture. A key advantage of harvesting water is that rainwater is a free source of water and by harvesting it there is a reduction in the cost for the recipient and the supplier.

The use of rainwater for domestic consumption requires water quality monitoring and testing facilities, and collection and storage systems. Gaps in any of these could negatively affect the perceptions of adopting and promoting rainwater harvesting.

Abstracts and other forms of submission could focus on theme 5 and sub-themes of socio-economic benefits and risks of adopting rainwater harvesting, livelihoods and rainwater harvesting etc.

6. Financing opportunities for Rainwater Harvesting, the role of the State and the Private sector.

The state and private sectors can play a leading role in providing the necessary investment support for promoting rainwater harvesting. However, the involvement of the state and private sector in coming forwards with support for the promotion of the technology is questionable indicating the need for evidence-based lobbying for the technology.

Abstracts and other forms of submission could focus on the main theme 6 and sub-themes of the reasons for the lack of acceptance for rainwater harvesting, and strategies to mobilize the state and private sector to support rainwater harvesting.

7. Creating an enabling environment, operational policies and institutions

Many countries have policies in favour of rainwater harvesting but lack effective implementation. It is important to find out factors that have led to hesitance or lack of emphasis in the policy environment related to the acceptance and promotion of rainwater harvesting.

Abstracts and other forms of submission could focus on the main theme 7 and on sub-themes of issues related to creating an enabling environment and why present policies related to rainwater harvesting are ineffective.

Making submissions:

• Submissions have to be made according to the guidelines available on the conference page of the SARNET website https://sarainwater.org/
• Submissions can be made as extended abstracts, posters, video clips, and infographics. • Local language presentations accompanied by a translation are accepted for posters, video clips, and infographics
• All submissions will be reviewed by the conference submission review committee for approval for presentation.

Language, Font and Format: All abstracts should be written in English and typed in Microsoft Word single-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman. Do not indent the text paragraphs.

Title and credentials: The document should start with the paper’s title, authors, authors’ affiliation, address and e-mail, followed by the Abstract’s text and the keywords (up to six). Please, indicate the author making the presentation with an asterisk.

Content: Briefly explain the aim and scope of your study, materials and methods, and the main conclusions/recommendations . Max 3 figures/photographs can be placed in the abstract.

Length: Authors are requested to submit Abstracts not more than fivepages in length including diagrams/photos and references. The word limit is 1500 – 2,000 words.

Submission and deadline: Extended abstracts should be submitted online via the conference page