UNU-INWEH and PLOS Water Launch Research Collection to Shape UN Water Conference Policy

RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada, October 27, 2026 – The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and the open-access journal PLOS Water have announced a joint collection of papers offering science-based, policy-relevant solutions to the world’s water challenges. The announcement comes just weeks before world leaders gather in Abu Dhabi for the 2026 UN Water Conference.

Titled “A New Era for Water: Policy-Relevant Research for Solutions,” the series aims to put research at the forefront of the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences. It also seeks to bring academic, scientific and policy communities closer together.

A Response to Global Water Bankruptcy

The collection builds on the UNU-INWEH report Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era, which calls for honest, science-based adaptation to a new reality. The series aims to advance research and policy responses fit for a world that has entered the era of Global Water Bankruptcy.

It will feature invited Opinion and Essay articles alongside research papers published in PLOS Water. Together they will cover key themes of the UN Water meetings and beyond, and sit in one open-access, searchable location.

Open Call for Research Papers

Researchers can submit primary research directly, with no prior approval needed. The organizers especially welcome work with the potential to become impactful policy for people and the planet.

Narrative commentary pieces are by invitation only. Authors who wish to propose one should contact the journal’s Executive Editor, Guillaume Wright. To submit research, authors should enter “A New Era for Water” in the Collections field and mention the collection in their cover letter. PLOS uses “Special Collection” and “Collection” interchangeably in its submission systems.

What Leaders Are Saying

Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of UNU-INWEH, said water bankruptcy “cannot be solved by science alone.” He said the partnership builds a stronger bridge between research, decision-making and practice.

Professor Sera Young, co-Editor-in-Chief of PLOS Water and an anthropologist at Northwestern University, called the project a chance for researchers from any background to publish in a forum that can feed directly into policymaking.

Emeritus Professor Pierre Horwitz, co-Editor-in-Chief of PLOS Water and a social ecologist at Edith Cowan University, described it as an invitational space for the arts, humanities and sciences.

Building Momentum: The Road to 2028

The organizers describe this as a critical period for the water sector. Several major global meetings with water at their core are coming up.

2026 UN Water Conference. The UN General Assembly revised the dates, and the conference will now run 8–10 December 2026 in Abu Dhabi. It is co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and Senegal and focuses on accelerating implementation of SDG 6, clean water and sanitation. Earlier materials listed 2–4 December, so authors should check the official UN site for the latest schedule.

UN SDG Summit 2027

2027 SDG Summit. Every four years, the High-Level Political Forum meets under the General Assembly at the level of Heads of State and Government. The 2027 Summit is where world leaders will take stock of collective progress and set the final push toward 2030. The previous Summit took place in September 2023.

11th World Water Forum

2027 World Water Forum. The 11th World Water Forum will be hosted in Riyadh in March 2027 under the theme “Action for a Better Future.” It is organized by the World Water Council with a host city and held every three years. Organizers expect more than 20,000 participants from over 150 countries.

2028 UN Water Conference. The General Assembly has set this conference for Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from 4–6 May 2028. It will serve as the final review of the Water Action Decade and chart a course for the future.

Conclusion of the Water Action Decade, 2028. The International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” runs from 2018 to 2028. The UN General Assembly proclaimed it in a resolution of December 21, 2016. Its close gives the sector a natural moment to assess what has worked and what must change after 2028.

Cooperation Across Disciplines

The collection complements the UN Water Conference Academic Hub, a UN-Water initiative co-led by UNU, UNESCO and UNITAR. Organizers stress that achieving SDG 6 will require a joint multilateral, multisectoral effort built on solidarity. In their view, technical, political, financial and public efforts in isolation will not be enough, and connected, cross-disciplinary communities are imperative.

Conclusion

With a series of landmark water meetings running through 2028, the sector has a short window to turn evidence into action. “A New Era for Water” gives researchers an open, searchable platform to reach decision-makers during that window. By pairing invited commentary with peer-reviewed research, UNU-INWEH and PLOS Water hope to challenge the status quo, issue calls to action across disciplines and sectors, and show how water research can drive transformative policy and practice. Researchers with policy-relevant findings are encouraged to submit now, so their work can inform the conversations in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, New York and Dushanbe.

About UNU-INWEH

Known as “The UN’s Think Tank on Water,” UNU-INWEH marks its 30th anniversary in 2026. It is one of 13 institutions within United Nations University, the academic arm of the UN. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and hosted by the Government of Canada since 1996, it leads UNU Hubs in Calgary, Hamburg, New York, Lund and Pretoria.