An Interview with Project Director Lisa Hartog
Join us online or in New York for a week full of water inspiration. Between 18 and 24 March New York Water Week will offer debates, film screenings, and lots of other events where people share their ideas and solutions for water. We spoke to the Project Director Lisa Hartog about how to take part and what to expect.
About the Week
The New York Water Week is a meeting place for anyone interested in water, with a broad range of activities for everyone. If you’re a film buff, you don’t want to miss the World Water Film Festival or the film programme put on by Let’s Talk About Water and Mayors Make Movies. Urban nature lovers can get water quality training from the Bronx River Alliance or join the Urban Rangers’ Seal Exploration Hike. And wherever in the world you live, you can tune into a webinar and learn something new about, say, nature-based solutions or flood management.
What about the Week makes you the happiest?
“It is really amazing to be able to offer such a diverse and exciting programme! I am very grateful to all the event organizers for their incredible creativity and enthusiasm,” Lisa Hartog says.
Since August, she has been on leave from her regular job at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands to lead the development of New York Water Week. The City of New York has of course been an invaluable partner in this endeavour, but Lisa is also grateful to the hundreds of grassroots and organizations who decided to create the numerous events that together form the New York Water Week programme.
What should everyone know about the Week?
“The turn-out is incredible and we’re still inviting more people to register events on our website. It’s free of charge and a very easy process; it will only take you 5 minutes! We need all voices and perspectives on water,” she says.
The aim of New York Water Week is to raise awareness of the growing water crisis but also of the many ways improved management of water can help us address challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, and inequality. This is also the theme of the United Nations 2023 Water Conference, which will take place in New York on 22-24 March. New York Water Week is independent of the UN event, but plays an important supportive role.
Why does The New York Water Week matter?
“We know that the world needs to do much more to address the water crisis and reach important goals, for example the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is not just a job for governments, we also need individuals, community groups, businesses, cities, universities… everyone. The New York Water Week is a major opportunity to bring people together for water,” Lisa Hartog explains.
"Hopefully, activities during New York Water Week can also feed into the Water Action Agenda where different stakeholders can register game-changing commitments to achieve important water goals."
Want to find out more?
Check out the program to find exciting events.
Questions? Check our our FAQs and About page.
Want to host a session at New York Water Week? Register here!