On March 22nd the world celebrates World Water Day, an international day established by the United Nations to raise awareness about the importance of freshwater and advocate for the sustainable management of this vital resource. The importance of this date lies in water’s critical and crucial role in all aspects of society. However, water availability and scarcity are some of the most pressing global issues of our time. The world’s growing population and changing climate have increased water stress, making it essential for us to use this resource more responsibly.
This year valuing water is an important theme to reflect upon, as we are called to look into the true value of water and its role in our lives, communities, and ecosystems. Valuing water thus means recognizing its multiple dimensions and the diverse ways in which it contributes to human well-being and development. From this perspective, water has social, cultural, economic, and environmental value, and all these aspects should be taken into account when managing the resource.
Valuing water also means acknowledging the need for equitable and sustainable water use and management. Reducing our water consumption is thus an important subject to focus on, and the agriculture sector is a good place to start. According to the United Nations, agriculture accounts for a large percentage of the global water consumption. As a result, it is essential to improve the efficiency of water use in agriculture. To do this, we need to look for innovative and sustainable solutions that use less water and can be implemented in water-scarce locations.
At INCiTiS-FOOD, concretely at the Living Labs, aquaponics prototypes are being developed for circular local food production. Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system that combines aquaculture (fish farming) with hydroponics (soilless plant farming). These systems are important circular solutions as they use less water than traditional agriculture, making them good solutions for peri-urban areas where water scarcity is significant. By reducing the amount of water used in food production, aquaponics can help to ensure water availability for additional essential needs like drinking, hygiene, and other socio-ecological-economic processes.
With the use of such innovative solutions valuing water can become a practice that we live by. By taking such responsible action and playing our part in ensuring water availability for generations to come, action toward overall sustainability can be achieved.
Sources used in parts of the text:
United Nations. (2018). Sustainable Development Goals – Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/
