From Wall Street to the streets of Athens, Cairo and Tripoli, the message is clear: this is not business as usual. World events - financial, climatic, revolutionary - will have a lasting and unavoidable impact on the way the world of water works.

Today's world is one in which old certainties are being eroded, new technologies are coming of age, and people around the world are trying to guess what the future will mean for them.

On 30^th April and 1^st May the Global Water Summit brings the entire international water sector to Rome, and lays down the challenge to think bravely about one question: What does our successful water future look like?

The Global Water Summit is the only event of its kind, an agenda-defining conference that brings together the highest level delegates from around the world, while maintaining the open and intimate atmosphere of a boardroom meeting.

The event is split into three different formats: keynote sessions, themed break-out strands, and round table meetings. This year, new formats and technologies will place even more emphasis on interactivity, spontaneity and creative thinking, including an additional session of our hugely popular Round Table Networking.

In addition, over 80 speakers will discuss a wide variety of themes, including:

• Can a keynote panel of leading experts reverse-engineer the perfect water future?
• What do the events in North Africa and the Middle East mean for countries which have such a precarious and vital relationship with water?
• How will the European debt crisis and the continuing rise of Asia impact new water infrastructure?
• What is going on away from worldwide events? Which water professionals are quietly achieving something brilliant, something that will bring new insights to the way you work?
• What can we learn from inspirational utilities around the globe?
• What is the future for desalination and water reuse?
• What are the new directions in quantifying risk for industrial water users?

The Global Water Awards 2012

The GWI Global Water Awards recognise excellence in the global water industry - the deals, the projects, the technologies and the people who have made a difference.

The importance of the awards is that they represent the views of those within the water sector. The selection process begins with nominations which are then shortlisted by a panel of industry experts. The awards are voted for by Global Water Intelligence readers, Water Desalination Report readers and members of the International Desalination Association (IDA), and the International Private Water Association.

Book for the Global Water Summit 2012 earlybird discount now