The Ninth GEF Biennial International Waters Conference (IWC9), generously hosted by the Government of Morocco, will take place from 5-8 November 2018 in Marrakesh. This signature event of the GEF International Waters (IW) Portfolio strives to solicit advice from existing GEF IW Projects on burning issues affecting shared river basins, lakes, groundwater, coastal and marine ecosystems, fisheries, and areas beyond national jurisdiction. 

The IWC9 is organized under the theme Sustaining International Waters Cooperation, with discussion tracks devoted to building traction of the GEF’s foundational methodology, the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis-Strategic Action Programme process, toward 2030 and beyond; to using transformational practices and tools for more informed decisions and better management of systems; and to incorporating forward-thinking solutions for ensuring long-term sustainability of both ongoing and new interventions. 

GEF IW:LEARN is a global project that promotes experience sharing, learning, information management and partnership-building among projects in the GEF International Waters focal area. GEF IW:LEARN aims to serve all GEF IW stakeholders including project managers, international and local project staff, government officials, implementing agency staff, non-governmental organizations, and others. The project also operates a central hub for storing and sharing data and documents from past GEF IW projects, making it the focal area's sole repository for such information. 

If you are a project manager of a GEF International Waters project, make sure to visit the GEF IW:LEARN booth to learn more about the services we offer and how we can help support your implementation activities. Our partner, GRID-Arendal, will be at the IW:LEARN booth all week to offer support on communications, visualization, and website development. Also look for their special sessions on communications and visualization during the conference.

• Need project support? The IW:LEARN project team will be on hand at the booth to walk you through the services available to support your project implementation. The team will also be conducting short video interviews to help you highlight your project achievements. These videos will be uploaded to the IW:LEARN website and shared through the IW:LEARN social media channels.

• Need a project website? Have spatial data and don’t know what to do with it? Join us for a practice session and tools clinic on the IW:LEARN web and visualisation toolkits. This clinic will be part of the “IWC9 Practices and Tools Clinic Carousel” on Wednesday 7th November. It will introduce you to a custom toolkit for building project websites that adhere to the IW:LEARN website guidelines. The clinic will also cover the IW:LEARN visualisation toolkit for storing, finding and visualising spatial data. 

• Telling your story – clearly. GRID-Arendal offers a workshop to participants who are writing about their IW:Learn projects. This workshop will focus on storytelling and how to write in a way that holds a reader’s attention. The session will be held on Wednesday, 7thNovember, from 16:00-17:30 and will include a presentation on how to use social media to promote your story.

The IW:LEARN Booth at IWC9 – a place to catch-up with the IW:LEARN team and find out what can be done to support your project!