22^nd of March is World Water Day, and this year global attention to our important but yet seriously threatened water resources is higher than ever. The first UN water conference since 46 years takes place in New York and reiterates the crucial dependence of human development, the SDGs and the climate agenda on sufficient water resources of good quality.

IDOS’ water team is strongly engaged in sharing its knowledge on water governance: As a kick-off to this series of events, Ines Dombrowsky, Annabelle Houdret and Olcay Ünver (Arizona State University and member of the Water Policy Group) publish their appeal to the decision-makers of the UN 2023 water conference in the Current Column The UN Water conference – time to govern water as a global commons!. Ines Dombrowsky and Srinivasa Srigiri join the UN conference as members of the German government delegation, where Srinivasa Srigiri and Jean-Carlo Rodriguez give a keynote at the side-event Turning the tide on the freshwater biodiversity crisis on March 22nd. Annabelle Houdret contributed to developing the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Water Sustainability (ISPWAS), a game-changer initiative led by UNESCO and the Global Water Systems Project, which will be presented in a dedicated side-event at the conference on March 24. In her capacity as speaker of the BonnWaterNetwork, she will also share insights into its functioning and competences at the Symposium 2023 for the Eurodelta region on March 22^nd. Finally, the Current Column to be published on March 22 by Mirja Schoderer and Jean-Carlo Rodriguez will lay out why the focus of this year’s World Water Day on individual action is insufficient to accelerate change.