2020 UNC Water and Health Conference: Science, Policy, and Practice

Registration for the 2020 UNC Water and Health Conference: Science, Policy, and Practice is now open! For the first time, we are going virtual and registration is free. Find out how to sponsor here.  

The 2020 UNC Water and Health Conference: Science, Policy and Practice will be held October 26 – 30, 2020 virtually from the comfort of your home or office. The conference will explore drinking water supply, sanitation, hygiene and water resources in both developing and developed countries with a public health/COVID-19 emphasis. Find the draft agenda here.

What is the Water and Health Conference?

Since its founding in 2009, the goal of the Water Institute at UNC has been to inform the way the world works on water, sanitation and hygiene issues by generating the evidence that drives improvements in both practice and policy. Through this period, the Water Institute has remained steadfast in its commitment to improving public health by achieving universal access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services that are safe, affordable and sustainable – particularly for the most marginalized. The annual UNC Water and Health Conference is intended to advance these goals by creating a space where policymakers, practitioners and researchers can gather to review the evidence, interrogate the science and improve old and develop new approaches to expanding WaSH access.

What is different this year?

The 2020 Conference will continue to explore the latest learnings around WaSH. Two themes will receive special attention – COVID-19 and systematic inequalities. Due to COVID-19, this year’s Conference will be entirely online and registration is free! Our hope is that this will make the conference accessible to more people across the globe. We are keeping many of the core elements you’ve come to expect such as plenaries, side events, verbal presentations and poster presentations. As in the past, the plenaries will be an opportunity to explore critical themes emerging in 2020. Side events will be collaborative learning experiences focused on new and emerging practices. Verbal presentations and poster presentations will focus on emerging research. Learn more here.