Arrival & Networking

Registration and informal networking, with a visual storytelling loop of global water challenges and solutions.

Session 1: Framing the Global Water Agenda

The Congress opens by framing water as one of the defining challenges of the decade, sitting at the intersection of climate resilience, food security, public health, economic stability, and geopolitics. Global leaders set out the priority actions this decade demands and call for coordinated leadership across government, business, civil society, and communities to move the world toward water security. The panel brings together a senior policymaker, a global water leader, and a host representative.

Session 2: Opening Ceremony Curated by IDRA and SWA

The official opening ceremony, curated by IDRA and SWA. The program includes the national anthem, the walk of dignitaries, the World Congress opening video, IDRA welcome remarks from the IDRA Secretary General and IDRA President, and host welcome remarks from H.E. Abdullah Al-Abdulkareem, President of the Saudi Water Authority, MEWA.

Session 3: Keynote Guest Speakers

Keynote guest speakers. Lineup to be confirmed.

Session 4: The Saudi Water Story

The Kingdom tells its own water story: the scale of its desalination and reuse program, and the transformation underway across the sector. Moderator and speakers to be confirmed by the SWA team.

Passing of the World Congress Flag to the 2028 Host

Exhibition Opening and VIP Walkthrough, Coffee Break

Lunch + Moonshot Presentations and Case Studies

Session 5: Mobilizing Private Capital for Universal Access

Financing universal access is getting harder. Rates are high, risk profiles keep shifting, and the projects the world needs have to prove they are bankable under inflation, supply chain pressure, and institutional capacity. This panel takes on the next generation of public-private partnerships (PPPs), the rise of expertise running inside public utilities, and the growing need for effective partnership models. Moderated by Mrs. Yvonne Zhou, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group, Saudi Arabia.

Session 6: Integrating Desalination with Next-Gen Energy

Desalination's future is tied to energy availability. Running plants on variable renewables rewrites the economics: tariffs that fall when renewables are plentiful. And demand is surging from a new direction, with industry and data centers now pulling on the same water and power. This is where the water-energy equation gets redrawn for long term resilience. Moderated by Mr. Paddy Padmanathan, Senior Advisor, Permira's Climate Investing Team.

Networking Break

Session 7: Circular Water Economy, Scaling Water Reuse

The world reuses around 8 percent of its water. What if we could move the needle by scaling reuse? Scaling is the single biggest growth story in the sector, and it is not theoretical. Windhoek, Namibia has run direct potable reuse since 1968. NEWater meets a large share of Singapore's supply. Spain operates a cadre of reuse facilities. The proof is already on the ground, and this session maps how the rest of the world catches up. It explores how governments, utilities, and industry can accelerate the global adoption of water reuse and move it from a proven solution to mainstream practice. Curated by the Water Reuse Association and IDRA, and moderated by Bruno Pigott, Executive Director, Water Reuse Association.

Thought Leadership Summit Welcome Reception

Invite only. Location to be confirmed.

Arrivals & Networking

Registration and informal networking, with a visual storytelling loop of global water challenges and solutions playing throughout.

Session 8: From Crisis to Action

Water is a leadership test as much as a technical one. The solutions largely exist; what holds back progress is fragmented governance, underinvestment, and weak coordination. Senior figures from government, international institutions, and the private sector examine what must change now to turn commitments into delivery, align public and private investment, and build partnerships that work at scale. The message that sets up the day: water security is not a future risk, it is a present responsibility. The panel brings together a head of state or minister, a multilateral institution leader, a global business or finance leader, and a host representative.

Session 9: AI and Water

Where artificial intelligence meets water operations, from digital twins to fully autonomous plant control. The panel also confronts the harder questions: cybersecurity for critical infrastructure, and how far smart monitoring, remote sensing, and predictive maintenance can be trusted to run the system. A curated panel from the WEF AI and Water Center of Excellence, moderated by Mr. Ralph Exton, Executive Director.

Networking Break

Session 10: Power, Policy & Influence

A high-level dialogue among political leaders, institutional decision-makers, and private-sector executives on how leadership turns ambition into measurable outcomes. The conversation covers policy alignment, governance reform, cross-sector partnerships, and the accountability mechanisms needed to take solutions to scale. The panel brings together a government minister or mayor, an international organization representative, and a media thought leader.

Session 11: Sport, Adventure & Human Endurance

Athletes and explorers who operate at the limits of human endurance bring a different vantage point on water, scarcity, and resilience. In a series of short, vivid talks, they connect personal performance to environmental stewardship and show how sport and adventure can shift public awareness and behavior. Speakers include an Olympic athlete, an explorer, and an ocean swimmer or expedition leader.

Lunch & Innovation Showcase

This interactive showcase highlights breakthrough technologies, startup solutions, and applied innovations that are accelerating progress in water treatment, reuse, monitoring, and efficiency. Live demonstrations and rapid-fire interviews will spotlight scalable solutions and connect innovators with investors, policymakers, and implementers. Features include startup demo corners, youth innovation booths, an NGO solution marketplace, and live interviews with innovators on stage.

Session 12: Influencers & Communicators Lab, Changing the Narrative on Water

Water is everywhere in daily life and almost invisible in public conversation. This lab gathers content creators, journalists, filmmakers, and digital strategists to work out how storytelling and social platforms can push water up the global agenda, counter misinformation, reach Gen Z, and help recruit the next water workforce.

Session 13: Voices of Impact, Circular Water Talks

Five frontline voices, ten minutes each, under one banner: Water from the Field. Youth advocates, innovators, athletes, explorers, and community leaders share the real stories and practical solutions behind the headlines, a reminder that lived experience drives change as much as policy does.

Networking Break

Session 14: Youth & Future Leaders Forum, Designing the Water Future

Young leaders are already shaping how water is managed, financed, and talked about. This interactive forum hands them the platform to challenge institutions and co-design solutions, with the conversation centering on education and skills, digital advocacy tools, and real pathways into water governance. The session is built to produce an output: a Youth Declaration or Water Action Manifesto.

YLP Evening Reception: Water Changemakers Network

An evening reception for the Young Leaders Program. Networking alongside a water-themed art installation or photo exhibition, with live music or a cultural performance.

Coffee and Networking

Session 15: The Road to the UN Water Conference

The technical day opens with IDRA's flagship bridge to the UN Water Conference in the UAE. One half is political: a Riyadh-to-Abu Dhabi roadmap toward a unified position on desalination and reuse for SDG 6, regulatory innovation including the EU Water Reuse Regulation, the challenge of attracting the next generation into the workforce, and water diplomacy as a tool for cooperation. The other half is technical: water for food in scarce regions and the competing pull of energy, agriculture, and cities, drawing on Israel's 90 percent agricultural reuse, Italy's Po Valley, Chile's mining versus farming tensions, and Saudi Arabia's own agricultural shift. Curated by UN Water and IDRA, and moderated by Federico Properzi, Chief Technical Advisor, UN Water.

Session 16: Scaling Water Reuse in the USA

Curated by the WateReuse Association, this session looks at how the United States is moving reuse from the margins to the mainstream: the projects proving the case, the regulatory shifts making it possible, and the lessons that travel well beyond American borders.

Networking Break

Session 17: Financing Water Infrastructure in the MENA Region

Building on the Arab Fund, World Bank, and IDRA session in Kuwait, this workshop turns to the practical question of how MENA's water infrastructure gets paid for. It brings development finance institutions and regional funders together with project sponsors to talk through risk, blended finance, and the deal structures that move projects from plan to construction. Curated with the World Bank and the Arab Fund.

Lunch

Session 18: Women Leaders of Our Industry

A panel platforming the women leading across the water sector, in utilities, technology, finance, and policy. Beyond recognition, the conversation looks at what helps talent rise, what still gets in the way, and how the industry builds a deeper and more diverse leadership bench.

Technical Deep-Dive: Brine Valorization, Advanced Materials & Resource Recovery

A technical deep-dive into turning brine from a disposal problem into a resource. The panel draws a clear line between what is commercially bankable today and what remains R&D, covering breakthroughs in membranes and materials such as graphene, nanotech, and high-recovery RO, industrial symbiosis through reuse, MLD and ZLD, and the tightening PFAS regulatory landscape.

Networking Break

Session 19: GWI Market Overview

A data-led briefing on where the global desalination and reuse markets are heading: the numbers, the growth segments, and the trends shaping investment over the years ahead. Presented by GWI.

Day 3 Wrap-Up

Key takeaways from the technical sessions and a look ahead to the final day.

Registration & Networking Coffee

Opening Session: Business Forum

The Business Forum opens with welcome remarks and keynotes. This half-day executive forum is designed for international companies, multilateral development banks, investors, and technology providers evaluating entry into or expansion within the Kingdom's water sector, with a program covering the sector outlook, project pipeline, localization and manufacturing, financing and public-private partnerships, and strategic international collaboration. Opening themes include national water security priorities, infrastructure expansion and investment, the role of desalination, reuse, and innovation, localization and industrial development, and international collaboration opportunities. With participation from MEWA, SWA, IDRA leadership, and the Global Water Organization.

Session 20: Saudi Water Market Outlook & Strategic Project Pipeline

Topics include upcoming desalination and water reuse projects, strategic transmission and storage infrastructure, industrial and mining water demand, renewable-powered desalination, regional development priorities, and procurement and PPP opportunities.

Session 21: Localization, Manufacturing & Industrial Growth Opportunities

Topics include in-country manufacturing incentives, localization requirements and procurement frameworks, joint ventures and technology transfer, industrial cluster development, workforce development and training, and supply chain localization.

Networking Break

Session 23: Financing, PPPs, & International Investment Opportunities

Topics include infrastructure financing models, PPP frameworks and tendering processes, sovereign and private investment opportunities, export credit and investment support, blended finance and development finance, and the long-term investment outlook beyond 2030.

Session 22: International Case Studies & Strategic Partnerships

Topics include localization success stories, international-Saudi joint ventures, renewable desalination projects, water reuse implementation, industrial water partnerships, and scaling operations in the Kingdom.

Executive Roundtable: Positioning Saudi Arabia as a Global Water Innovation Hub Beyond 2030

A closing roundtable on future technology priorities, AI and digital water systems, the circular water economy, energy-water integration, supply chain resilience, attracting long-term investment, and international collaboration and innovation diplomacy. Bringing together government officials, utilities, investors, developers, global water organizations, and international industry executives.

Congress Recap: Key Takeaways

A closing synthesis of what the four days produced, the highlights, and the road ahead to the UN Water Conference in the UAE.

Closing Luncheon, Technical Awards Ceremony & VIP B2B Networking

The Congress closes over lunch with the Technical Awards Ceremony and facilitated B2B matchmaking, sending delegates off with recognition and new connections.