Scientific Programme

• From upstream to downstream: Can all costs, benefits and responsibilities be shared?
• Making land-use systems more resilient against droughts and dry-spells
• Man-made modifications of landscapes: Do we know all the risks?
• A vulnerability trade-off: Where is the balance between environmental protection and economic use of water?
• Opportunities to integrate ecological aspects into water management and missing scientific tools
• The influences of the European Water Framework Directive on contemporary water management in Europe and beyond

• What determines the vulnerability of societies against floods and how can it be reduced?
• Poverty and socio-economic effects of floods
• Flood risk management and mitigation strategies in long-term planning and at the operational level
• Reliability of flood protection under increasing uncertainty
• The specific vulnerability of developing countries against floods and ways to reduce it
• Integrated approaches in flood protection – spatial and temporal scales

• How to ensure equity in balancing the benefits and burdens resulting from water management?
• Ways to reduce negative effects of water management activities on societies
• Sustainability - what does it mean for technical structures of water management
• How can Integrated Water Resources Management address liabilities and responsibilities?

• Water dependent socio-economic developments and possibilities to stabilize them through improved water management
• Traditional water management – limitations and advantages
• Are water management solutions of industrialized countries transferable to developing societies and vice versa?
• The transferability of water management solutions between climates
• How to increase the resilience of water dependent systems (such as ecosystems, drinking water supply systems, irrigation systems) to extreme events?
• How can water resources management contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals