Conference is a big success!

The OU WaTER Center hosted its 5th biennial University of Oklahoma International WaTER Conference on September 18-19, 2017. The conference, themed "A Decade of Progress - A Vision for the Future", was particularly special, as it was the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the biennial WaTER Conference and OU International Water Prize cycles. 

Participants mingle and chat between sessions.

One hundred and thirty-five WaSH experts and students from academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, governments and foundations representing 21 countries and 21 US states, converged in Norman, Okla. for the event. The Conference included 68 contributed oral and 21 poster presentations addressing a full suite of water related topics, such as social entrepreneurship, behavior change, water and sanitation technologies, climate change, gender and social equity and water reuse in the developing world. Five keynote speakers were our distinguished guests. Other activities included a panel discussion, an educational K-12 Clean Water Poster Contest for local school children, and a new poster contest for undergraduate and graduate students.

A panel of experts and practitioners discuss the overlap of water challenges in Oklahoma and the developing world.

Making our conference even more exciting was that all the past OU Water Prize winners returned to honor the current prize winner, present keynote addresses at the conference, and join in a panel discussion at the conference banquet.

A panel of past Water Prize winners was a highlight of the conference banquet.

Finally, five post-conference workshops were offered on social entrepreneurship and hydrological remote sensing (led by OU students and faculty), as well as various hands-on technical field methods demonstrations, well-drilling courses and tours (led by local partners). Through generous sponsorship (see subsequent pages), we hosted an estimated 46 participants.

These seventeen travel scholarship recipients come from all across the globe.

Seventeen (17) WASH experts from developing countries were provided travel scholarships that covered the full expense of their travel, registration, and accommodations during the conference. This group included participants from Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Liberia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa and Thailand. In addition to the numerous international guests, the conference also hosted many individuals from the local OU community, 32 of whom were students.
 

Participants engage in lively discussion at the poster session and contest.