THE FIFTH SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT ΟF ECONOMIST

Professor Maria P. Papadopoulou, National Technical University of Athens participated in the 5th SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT ΟF ECONOMIST taking about the challenges in SUSTAINABLE WATER MANAGEMENT in the coronavirus era, the impact to the human activity so far and the socio-economic aspects of water-resource management.

The pandemic brought significant differences in the anthropogenic pressures put in the natural environment and at the same time brought improvements in ecosystems. Industrial and agricultural activity was significantly reduced while the change of everyday conditions brought significant changes in the ability to meet the water needs of an area (Supply-demand loop).

In the post-COVID era, the use of digital technology in natural resource management is now an imperative requirement. Such typical case is the development of wastewater epidemiology network, which has been considered for more than a year as an excellent tool in the hands of health scientists to detect, control and contain the pandemic to the general public.

Water governance requires collective effort. Water is a public good that the Greek state must provide to its citizens, but the adaptation of economic activity and societies to the new climate change conditions require a holistic approach to the issues of resource management and the preservation of ecosystems with the collaboration of public-private partnerships to tackle extremes such as drought and water scarcity by creating more resilient societies.