Thematic Webinars (TW)

TW.1 Water Resilient Cities – Lessons from Recent Extreme Events

22 June 2021 (Tuesday), 4.00pm-5.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

The threats posed to water security and the liveability of our cities have been on the rise. Climate change has led to an increasing frequency of extreme weather events across the world. The Covid-19 pandemic has shifted preconceived notions of normalcy in almost every facet of life. Moreover, the challenge of overcoming these threats are compounded by longstanding legacy issues in urban planning. In this webinar, experts across globe will share their experiences, solutions and shortfalls in the responses to recent extreme events. The lessons learnt, solutions and broad principles of practice for building resilience in our cities and people.

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TW.2 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize Laureates Roundtable: "Game-changing Technologies for a Sustainable Water Future"

22 June 2021 (Tuesday), 9.00pm-10.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: , Singapore’s National Water Agency

The Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize was established in 2008 to honour the best minds in water solutions. To-date, eight Laureates have been awarded this prestigious Prize to recognize their contributions towards solving the world’s water challenges by developing or applying innovative technologies, policies or programmes which benefit humanity.

This roundtable brings our past Laureates together for the first time in a special webinar. In this session, our esteemed speakers will share their insights on the global trends and advances in science and innovation, and changes in approaches in technology development and implementation that would be necessary to tackle emerging urban water challenges and meet the SDGs.

23 June 2021 (Wednesday), 2.00pm-3.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organisers:

Opening Address Dr Helge Daebel, Managing Director, Ripple2wave

Welcome Address Professor Cheah Horn Mun, Assistant Provost and Dean (College of Lifelong & Experiential Learning), SUSS

Pitching Presentations and Q&A Tan Jiale, Co-Founder, ESGnie Choo Jingyuan, Co-Founder, Neptune – WaterFutureTech Alex Wong, Co-Founder, Groundup.ai Clement Collignon, Fieldbox.ai Sumanta Bose, Datakrew Wong Liang Jie, Teredo Analytics Tyler Huang, Memsing

Hackathon Highlights

Prize Ceremony and Closing Speech Dr Helge Daebel, Managing Director, Ripple2wave

*TW.4 Celebrating Women in Engineering

23 June 2021 (Wednesday), 2.00pm-3.00pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Jacobs

To celebrate International Women in Engineering Day, we put a spotlight on outstanding female leaders who will share their early beginnings in engineering, challenges and highlights of their career journey, how they made their mark in the water industry and how they are contributing to a more sustainable water future across the world today Our panelists will also provide their personal perspectives on the exciting aspects of engineering, transformative trends that are taking shape as well as opportunities and interventions to improve the diversity of our industry to help tackle our water future.

TW.5 Sustainability Leadership in Water: Experiences from Industry and Utility

23 June 2021 (Wednesday), 4.00pm-5.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Leadership today calls for businesses to focus not just on delivery of outcomes that benefit the organisation, but increasingly also on addressing impacts of business activities on the wider society and the environment.

Achieving the right balance is key. How should organisations balance between economic growth with the sustainable use of precious resources like water? How do corporations quantify the benefits of investing in sustainability efforts like water recycling and resource recovery? This session invites leaders from both the industry and utility to share their journey. Learn about their imperatives for embarking on sustainability efforts and hear about ongoing and future initiatives that demonstrate their commitment towards the environment.

TW.6 Utilities of the Future – Is Smarter Water Better Water? (Session 1)

23 June 2021 (Wednesday), 8.00pm-9.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

Digitalisation offers opportunities for utilities to redefine existing business processes. It allows for the optimisation of internal processes, improved service and value for customers and better environmental outcomes at a lower cost. However, there remains significant risks and impediments to its widescale adoption which include cybersecurity, keeping up with new developments, and optimising deployment. This two-part webinar aims to assess what problems are best addressed through digitilisation and where they may not have a place.

This session will cover the lessons learnt from early adopters of “smart water” and take stock of the past decade of “smart water” innovation.

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*TW.7 A Career in the Water Profession

24 June 2021 (Thursday), 2.00pm-3.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Environmental Engineering Society of Singapore (EESS)

Targeted at youths and students, this webinar offers insights on exciting developments in the international water landscape, how the water sector is gearing up to meet challenges such as climate change to provide safe drinking water and sanitation, and demonstrates why this is an exciting time to work in the industry Discover interesting career opportunities from our keynote speaker and panel of young water professionals as they share insights on the work they do, highlights of their career and offer advice to those who are interested in joining the profession.

TW.8 Utilities of the Future – Is Smarter Water Better Water? (Session 2)

24 June 2021 (Thursday), 8.00pm-9.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

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GREEN TALKS – Virtual Denmark-Singapore Dialogue on Water Resource Recovery

25 June 2021 (Friday), 2.00pm – 3.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Organisers:

TW.9 Digital Utilities – Preparing for the Future

28 June 2021 (Monday), 2.30pm-3.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: KPMG Singapore

The session will cover the following broad themes -

1. Technology developments and impact on utility sector

2. Leading and best practices of leveraging technology in water sector / utilities.

3. Future trends - smart meters, remote monitoring, predictive maintenance, AI and block chain amongst others

Organised as part of the Urban Sustainability R&D e-Symposia

28 June 2021 (Monday), 7.00pm – 8.30pm SGT (GMT +8)

Co-Organiser: Coastal Protection Department,  

There are different types of uncertainties – unpredictability (e.g. global emission scenarios and changing climate conditions, urbanisation), incomplete knowledge (e.g. lack of knowledge, limited data availability) and ambiguity (e.g. differing stakeholders’ perspectives/values). Not considering these uncertainties in decision making may result in future options becoming constrained by earlier decisions, or situations where assets are obsolete before end of design life. To manage uncertainties while ensuring adequate system performance, adaptive planning is necessary to safeguard the future and interests of Singapore. This thematic webinar invites you to catch a glimpse of some of the uncertainties associated with sea level rise, decision making tools and building with nature as a future proof strategy.

TW.11 Resource Recovery – From Policy to Practice (Session 1)

28 June 2021 (Monday), 9.00pm-10.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

Conventional waste streams, such as sewage sludge, water treatment sludge and brine streams, contain valuable resources like nutrients, heavy metals and inorganic minerals that can be extracted for reuse. With a growing demand for our limited supply of natural resources, resource recovery is necessary to close the gaps in the water, carbon and energy cycles to ensure environmental sustainability.

This session, the first of two, will discuss the broader principles, challenges and economics of resource recovery and explore its application through the Tuas Nexus Integrated Waste and Water Treatment Facility case study.

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TW.12 Climate Change, Water Quality and Health

29 June 2021 (Tuesday), 7.00pm-8.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

Climate change poses an array of uncertainties that threaten water quality which, if not addressed, could ultimately lead to a deterioration of public health. This webinar discusses these uncertainties and explores adaptation strategies such as the diversification and conservation of water supplies, resilient infrastructure and public health preparedness.

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TW.13 Resource Recovery – From Policy to Practice (Session 2)

29 June 2021 (Tuesday), 9.00pm-10.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

Conventional waste streams, such as sewage sludge, water treatment sludge and brine streams, contain valuable resources like nutrients, heavy metals and inorganic minerals that can be extracted for reuse. With a growing demand for our limited supply of natural resources, resource recovery is necessary to close the gaps in the water, carbon and energy cycles to ensure environmental sustainability.

This session will look more closely at advances in various resource recovery technologies and the applications of the recovered resources.

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TW.20 IDA Business Forum on Desalination and Water Reuse

29 June 2021 (Tuesday), 9.00pm-10.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: International Desalination Association

The IDA is a founding Strategic Partner of the SIWW and is pleased to present the IDA Business Forum covering desalination and Water Reuse solutions to meet water scarcity needs. Distinguished speakers will discuss the global market for non-conventional treatment solutions, financing of such projects, the water-energy-food nexus and the impact these solutions have on meeting current and future water sustainability needs.

TW.14 Singapore Water Exchange (SgWX) Water Utilities Series: Uncovering Water Opportunities in Bangladesh

30 June 2021 (Wednesday), 2.00pm-3.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organisers: ,

Bangladesh is a densely populated country with 168 million people. The WHO estimates that 97% of the people of Bangladesh have access to water but only 40% have proper sanitation. The availability of water fluctuates throughout the year, with the warmer season bringing large amounts of water in frequent monsoons and the cooler season bringing drought. The Government is trying to improve rainwater capture and access to safe drinking water. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about added challenges. Now more than ever, having access to safe water is critical to the health of Bangladeshis. The World Bank supports initiatives and provides funding to promote regional collaboration to improve water resources management in Bangladesh. This webinar presents the water challenges faced by Bangladesh and the opportunities for infrastructure improvement and technology deployment to tackle these challenges.

TW.15 Water Industry Transformation to Achieve SDG2030 – Overcoming Bottlenecks

30 June 2021 (Wednesday), 4.00pm-5.30pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

With 2030 closely approaching, the concern for the global community to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is rising. The reality is clear – if governments and industry continue business-as-usual, achieving SDG2030 is unattainable. This workshop will discuss how SDG 6, Water and Sanitation, interlinks with the other goals and identify the barriers, bottlenecks and low-hanging fruit in policy, technology and implementation. The main outcome of the workshop is to develop a list of possible actions for water utilities to lead the water industry transformation to overcome the bottlenecks in achieving SDG2030.

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TW.16 Reinventing Membranes – Present to Future

30 June 2021 (Wednesday), 8.00pm-9.45pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: Water Convention Programme Committee

This webinar will provide an overview of present membrane technologies, their evolution and the new challenges they aim to address today. Experts from across the globe will discuss the latest in polymeric membranes, ceramic membranes, biomimetic membranes and what the future has in store.

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*TW.17 ABC Waters - Embracing Sustainable Blue-Green Solutions for Urban Cities

Organised as part of the Urban Sustainability R&D e-Symposia

1 July 2021 (Thursday), 7.00pm-9.00pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organisers:   

Join us in this seminar as we discuss how Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters (ABC Waters) Design concepts are brought to life from design to construction. Awardees of the ABC Waters Certificate (Gold) will also be sharing on how they have managed to successfully integrate the blue and the green into their urban designs.

*TW.18 Partnering Agility to Achieve Leading Edge Water Management

2 July 2021 (Friday), 4.00pm-5.00pm SGT (GMT+8)

Co-organiser: SUEZ

Optimize water management is a crucial challenge. From Asia to Pacific, multiple partnership and financing strategies are implemented to meet the needs of the local authorities, the industrials, and the citizens. Discover how the water management industry is reinventing itself through fruitful partnerships with operators through Joint Venture, DBO, BOT, One-city One-operator to meet their objectives of becoming best in class of a global sustainable water management on their territory. Listen to the testimonials from Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park, Medan BOT and State authorities in India which are the levers for more flexibility and more performance!