Sustainable Natural and Engineered Water Systems Management

The IWA SWSM conference series brings together multidisciplinary scientists and engineers to address global challenges in water sustainability through an IWA-sponsored platform. Having had the privilege of initiating SWSM, I look forward to the third conference in the series in scenic Agadir, Morocco.

Professor Mohtar’s research and conference contributions address global resource challenges, including Water-Energy-Food Nexus developments that link science to policy. He will also discuss characterization of the soil-water medium through thermodynamic modeling and the role of non-traditional water in food production.

In the context of climate change and global pollution, the access to clean water will become more difficult and expensive. However, our knowledge of pollution is limited due to the lack of methods to analyze complex media such as waters, soils and sediments. Here I present a new discipline, Single Sample Molecular Chronology, that uses molecular clocks to study the age and dynamics of organic compounds in complex media.

The 3rd IWA Conference on Sustainable Natural and Engineered Water Systems Management (SWSM 2026) brings together international experts to advance integrated approaches to water sustainability, climate resilience, water quality, reuse, and smart water management. I am pleased to participate as an invited speaker, sharing perspectives from our work at IISc on water-quality monitoring, sensor technologies, and data-driven approaches for resilient and sustainable water systems. The conference also provides an important platform to connect scientific innovation with practical solutions for water-stressed and climate-vulnerable regions.

It is a great honour to participate in IWA SWSM 2026 as an invited speaker. I am excited to share our team’s recent research outcomes and engage in in-depth discussions with the global water community. I hope this conference can foster new collaborations and accelerate the translation of sustainable water technologies into practical applications.

SWSM is fostering collaboration across the water research community by bringing together scientists and experts from diverse interdisciplinary fields, including materials science, membrane science, policy, sustainability planning, and emerging research areas. At the symposium, I will be presenting our group’s work on tunable framework materials and advanced membranes for water remediation, electrochemical desalination, and resource recovery from water systems.

The IWA SWSM conference series brings together emerging issues and innovative solutions in natural and engineered water systems, providing a valuable platform for water experts worldwide to share their latest research achievements and exchange ideas. Having had the privilege of hosting SWSM 2023 in Bangkok and participating in SWSM 2024 in Xi’an, I look forward to continuing this fruitful exchange at SWSM in Agadir, Morocco.

IWA SWSM 2026 conference is a leading forum for advancing water reuse, treatment of emerging contaminants and sustainable water management. It brings together researchers, practitioners and policymakers working on water-related areas. I look forward to sharing our group’s work on solar-driven photocatalysis for wastewater remediation, CO2 conversion and green hydrogen, and to exploring collaborations with the international water community.

It is a pleasure to join a community of international scholars to address essential science and engineering concepts for improving water management. These processes are essential for optimal natural resource management and for human flourishing.