WELCOME TO THE WLRI & FRIEND-Water

JOINT CONFERENCE 2027

Rivers in a Changing World: Connecting Knowledge and Solutions Across River Basins and Flow Regimes

The UNESCO flagship initiatives WLRI (World’s Large Rivers Initiative) and FRIEND-Water (Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data) will jointly host and co-organise their global conference, bringing together for the first time their scientific communities. Held at Elephant Hills hotel in Victoria Falls from 13 to 17 September 2027, the conference provides a global forum for scientists, practitioners and decision-makers to exchange knowledge and discuss key challenges and opportunities related to river research, river basin management and the sustainable development of water resources under the pressure of global changes. The conference aims to foster dialogue across disciplines and regions, strengthening international collaboration and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and solutions for the sustainable management of the world’s river basins.

The conference is organised within the framework of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), with the support of BOKU University, of the UNESCO International Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Water Systems Dynamics (ICIREWARD) and the UNESCO International Centre for Water Resources and Global Change (ICWRGC).