International Conference on “Water and Environment in the New Millennium: Education and Capacity Building“ (WENM2016) was held in the University of Tehran, Iran, 3-5 December, 2016. The conference was jointly organized by the Colleges of Science, Engineering, Agriculture and Natural Resources of the University of Tehran. This conference was organized in collaboration with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The Members of “SusWaDialogue” Project (Water Management and Sustainability from a Cultural and Social Perspective – a Dialogue between Germany, Iran, Egypt and Indonesia) first raised the idea of organizing this international conference in March 2015.

The conference secretariat was active for over a year in the University of Tehran. It created an affective platform for collaboration of water professors and students from various colleges and faculties of University of Tehran and other universities in Iran.  Over 450 water engineers, scientists and students from 10 countries attended the conference.

University of Tehran and the co-organizers of WENM2016 agreed to organize this conference biannually. The next conferences will also aim to find pathways for achieving SDG4 and SDG6 goals through promoting water education capacities.

The following key findings were included in the conference concluding remarks:

• The need for a Macro Plan for cross sectoral coordination for enhancing K12 water education
• Enhancing water related material in K12 Curricula as a long-term effort
• Educating teachers for short term significant improvements in K12 water education
• It was emphasized that whatever policy or strategy we as decision makers or engineers or scientists come up with has to be eventually implemented by members of societies in which majorities are illiterate about water and environment. Media can play a very important role in awareness raising.
• Need for capacity development in the fields of environmental journalism in both public and private media for awareness raising
• Finding ways to introduce water and environment as a news value to the media organization and forging partnership with these organizations for promoting water and environment issues
• Need for enhancing cross-disciplinary water higher education and research with specific attention to the fields of social and natural sciences through “specialized integrators”.
• Need for specific attention to water and environment ethics and indigenous Water Knowledge in higher water
• Need for updating water higher education curricula with respect to Sustainable Development Goals considering specific regional and local challenges
• Need for enhancing collaboration between universities, public and private sectors and consulting engineers to co-create solutions to the complex water problems
• With escalating trans-boundary and local water conflicts specially in dry regions such as middle east, there is an urgent need for human resources development in the field of hydro-diplomacy.
• any emphasized on public awareness as the most effective and fundamental step for water and environment protection.