COVID-19 Research and Innovation Programmes and Projects Implemented by IORA Member States and Dialogue Partners

Theme of Event

Disaster Risk Management
Venue

Virtual Meeting
Date

30 – 30 Sep 2020

As a member of the South African IORA Academic Group, the Water Research Commission (WRC) of South Africa received financial support from the IORA Special Fund to organise three workshops of the IORA Academic Group Water Science and Technology Core Working Group (WSTWG) in collaboration with other IORA Member States.

The inaugural workshop was hosted by South Africa on 5 to 6 February 2015, the second workshop on “Promoting Efficient Water Management through Water Re-use and Alternative Water Supply” hosted by Sri Lanka on 15-16 November 2016 and the final workshop on “Sustainable Development and Management of Water Resources” hosted by India on 5 September 2017. The workshops provided a platform for sharing and to get a better understanding of the water research, development and innovation (RDI) interests, priorities, common challenges of the IORA MS and exchanged ideas of what the responsibilities of the IORA WSTWG should be. The Core Group further identified the following as potential water and sanitation RDI areas of collaboration for the IORA Member States:

Alternative water supply in addressing water scarcity (Recycling and Reuse)
Urban water management
Groundwater management (governance, quality, protection and recharge)
Impact of Climate Change and environment on water supplies
Sanitation
Other areas that will be of mutual interest to IORA MS

Proposed Activities for 2020 – 2021:

To minimise further missed opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and potential value adding partnerships and collaborations that can be derived from IORA Member States and Dialogue Partners water and sanitation stakeholders, the WRC in collaboration with the IORA Regional Centre for Science and Technology Transfer (IORA RCSTT) will be hosting the forthcoming Workshop Webinar entitled: “COVID-19 research and innovation programmes and projects implemented by IORA Member States and Dialogue Partners”, on 30 September 2020 via Zoom.

Disaster Risk Management