Following in the larger-than-life footsteps of the legendary 2023 DWC edition and a spectacularly successful 2024 Danube Water Forum, the 2025 Danube Water Conference pulls out all stops to mark new tops, with a spectacular new venue, a hotter than hot general theme, and a distinguished speaker roster. If you haven't registered yet, please hurry up – that clock is ticking as well.

"Looking back, Looking forward: A State of the Sector Update" is the Conference theme, and the update in question has been years in the making and will be in final draft state on the opening day of 20205 DWC. Means that we will discuss the freshest insight, based on the best available data, covering the whole Danube region.

Fittingly, we will convene in a spectacular new venue, the conference center Twelve, at the foot of the Twin Towers at Vienna's south gate. We meet from 14 to 16 May, back-to-back with IAWD and World Bank business meetings as well as the annual UBP Danube Hub workshop and a Young Water Professionals pre-event.

The core program starts on 14 May at 2pm and runs till noon, 16 May. Building on the State of the Sector Update, the Conference covers a wide range of themes in a single-track session program. Expect valuable insights and lively discussions on changing frameworks, scarce human resources, smart asset management, volatile financing landscapes, innovative wastewater management, expensive last miles, and professional crisis management.

The roster of speakers is once again impressive. As a for instance, Josh Newton will chair the session “Running water: How to attract and retain a diverse workforce in the water service sector”. Josh Newton is the founder of Josh’s Water Jobs, a digital resource that connects young professionals with job opportunities and promotes career development. Josh is also an independent consultant and expert in global water governance, related political processes, and stakeholder engagement. He utilizes his knowledge of the international water and sanitation communities to help institutions develop their institutional strategies and drive political processes related to water. Those who attended the 2023 DWC will remember Josh as an exciting, entertaining speaker whose intervention left the audience deeply impressed and chewing on a big chunk of food for thought. Expect more of the same.

The organizers have picked dedicated specialists with inside knowledge on the most challenging problems for the sector. For instance, Ms. Heide Müller-Rechberger, Head of the Department for Plant-Related Water Management at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management, will join the session on Wastewater Management, reporting on the impact of the revised EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive on wastewater management in Austria. The recent revision of UWWTD extends the scope of regulations to smaller agglomerations, covers more pollutants, including micropollutants, and contributes to energy neutrality. It puts a considerable additional financial burden on treatment plants, which makes a Ministry's perspective highly interesting.

In short, participants of the 2025 DWC are in for more than just one treat. Check the detailed Agenda for the full speaker line-up and if you haven't registered yet, please hurry up – deadline is 3 May.