Manila, 9 May 2009 — How can we meet SDG6 to manage water for good? Transformative change is needed.

Story

It happened 500 years ago. The Parang pattern on Indonesia’s characteristic batik textile is said to have originated during the Mataram Sultanate in the 16th century. This pattern of water, still widely used today and one of my favorites, resembles the shape of waves hitting a reef. It depicts a continuous struggle with nature, which can play out inside ourselves and in the world around us. 

Managing water for good has been one of humanity’s biggest and most profound challenges since the beginning of time. It has far-reaching consequences for our quality of life in all dimensions and for the very sustainability of life on our planet. Today, we are far off-track from achieving humanity’s water goal, SDG6. And, that poor showing impacts all the 16 other global goals too. 

In the language of batik, the water is still hitting the reef, and ever more insistently, as if to wake us up. Climate change is making matters much worse and is also threatening to undo decades of painstaking progress in water services. This, then, is the situation in which Indonesia is hosting the 10th World Water Forum in Bali next week, to discuss what transformative changes are needed.

Challenge

The world of water management is one of diversity and numerous silos. Water is everyone’s business and that has led to damaging fragmentation. In nature, water is part of a cycle, and there is integrity in how water flows and rivers and groundwater are replenished to sustain the ecosystem that allows humanity to survive and thrive. Today, we see that such integrity has been destroyed by human activities.

90% of the world’s water problems are people problems. The fundamental question facing the World Water Forum is no longer about making small incremental improvements in water projects. The international community has already done that since the 1970s—and we are still far away from meeting basic human needs and safeguarding our precious water resources. It would be foolish to expect different outcomes while continuing with the same business as usual. 

In the face of unrelenting climate change that brings more extremes, including floods, droughts, heatwaves, and devastating storms, what should transformative change in water management look like? Looking beyond the engineer’s dream of adding more infrastructure, how can we end fragmentation, boost collaboration, and achieve significantly more with our scarce financial resources? 

Question

In a dire situation for the world’s water and the suffering it brings to humans and ecosystems, our Indonesian hosts may point out that people who wear batik with the Parang pattern are expected to never give up in facing challenges. They associate the motif with water’s strength of adaptability and flexibility, which have for centuries been hallmarks of Southeast Asian cultures and leadership in times of challenge. There is, then, some hope to be discovered in Bali.

My invitation for you this week is to share with me what transformative changes you think we need in water management at this time. Go ahead and write me. Please mention three profound changes that are at the top of your list. I am looking forward to learning from you, and to contributing to the World Water Forum in Bali armed with inspiration from your insights. In doing so, I hope to live up to the rich meaning of Indonesia’s Parang batik motif.

An important way we can bring about transformative change is to grow more water leaders who develop abilities to bring people together to collaborate across silos. That, exactly, is what my colleagues at Griffith University are setting out to do with their new Pathway Program to help water practitioners around the world become water leaders who can drive transformative change. Their question to you is: What will you, and your organization, do to foster more water leaders? I look forward to hearing from you.