World Water Week is hosted and organised by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and takes place each year in Stockholm. The World Water Week has been the annual focal point for the globe's water issues since 1991. The current niche for 2009-2012 is "Responding to Global Changes", which looks at the potential and necessary responses in water policy, management and development to address pervasive and increasingly impacting global changes. The theme for World Water Week 2012 is Water and Food Security, exploring the intricate relationship between water and food, and highlighting the challenges and opportunities feeding the thirsty world.

This international conference is being organized in India to highlight the urgency of biodiversity conservation in Asia ahead of the 11th Conference of the Parties (CoP) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to be held in India in October 2012. Biodiversity Asia 2012 will include important updates on conservation research in Asia in lectures, plenary sessions, symposia and poster sessions by leading scientists and students. Biodiversity Asia 2012 will also contribute to capacity-building in Asia by including practical workshops and short-courses for students and practitioners.

In almost the decisions use of models are common that reflect the simplified understanding of the environment. Every model and every decision has uncertainties. Recent decline of environmental resources and the ecosystem services the environment provides are a consequence of managing a considerably complex system: the environment and the planet. The aim of the meeting is to enhance understanding of environmental processes and decision making by fostering the discussion and interchange of challenges, solutions, ideas, new methods and techniques, and future research lines in environmental modelling and software.

The Conference will take place to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. It is envisaged as a Conference at the highest possible level, including Heads of State and Government or other representatives. The objective of the Conference is to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.

IIED will host a major international event in the run-up to Rio that will showcase the expertise and perspectives of practitioners and researchers from around the world working to make sustainable development a reality, and provide space for dialogue on challenges in moving towards a more sustainable future. Taking place immediately before the Rio+20 event, it will present a set of recommendations for action drawn from IIED’s 40 years of work on sustainable development and help develop alliances of willing actors to explore how they can work together towards agreed goals, benefiting from mutual learning and accountability.