This training course is dedicated to the in-depth presentation of the 12 OECD Principles on Water Governance and self-assessment toolkit. It will be complemented by concrete examples and outcomes from Water Policy Dialogues conducted by the OECD throughout the world.

Good water management is critical to sustainable development and to people’s well-being because of its pivotal role for economic growth, social inclusion and environmental sustainability. An increasing number of countries, regions and cities are facing mounting challenges to manage effectively too little, too much and too polluted waters, and to sustain universal coverage of drinking water and sanitation services due to massive investment backlogs in infrastructure and difficulties to maintain and operate existing assets.

Several mega-trends are also affecting the way cities, regions and countries are able to manage their water resources and services now and in the future, in particular the impact of climate change on water supply and demand, and pressures arising from demographic trends such as migration and urbanisation.

Coping with current and future water-related challenges requires robust public policies, targeting measurable objectives in pre-determined time-schedules at the appropriate scale, relying on a clear assignment of duties across responsible authorities and subject to regular monitoring and evaluation.

Water governance can greatly contribute to the design and implementation of such policies, in a shared responsibility across levels of government, civil society, business and the broader range of stakeholders who have an important role to play alongside policymakers to reap the economic, social and environmental benefits of good water governance.

This requires going beyond the “what to do?” to also consider “who does what?”, “why?”, “at which level of government?” and “how?”. The OECD has developed policy standards in the form of the 12 OECD Principles on Water Governance which provide a framework to understand whether water governance systems are performing optimally and help to adjust them where necessary.

The training will be held online starting on 5 April, with additional content to be delivered on 8 and 12 April. Please browse the Event's page for further information.