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Nine members of the ���������¼� water community recently travelled to Singapore to participate in the , joining over 1500 leading experts from all over the world to discuss and advance water engineering.

Co-located with , the IAHR World Congress was held on 22-27 June 2025. Throughout the week, the ���������¼� delegation presented in technical sessions, released new research, accepted coveted accolades and networked with colleagues from dozens of different countries.

The theme of the 41^st IAHR World Congress was ‘Innovative Water Engineering for Sustainable Development’, exploring topics like the complexities of hydraulic engineering, water resources management and climate change adaptions—with a focus on how innovations can further advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the global community.

One member of the ���������¼� delegation, Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the ���������¼� Water Research Laboratory (WRL), Stefan Felder, has been involved with IAHR since 2011 when he was member of the Local Organising Committee for the 34^th IAHR World Congress in Brisbane. He recently ended his tenure as Chair of the IAHR Hydraulic Structures Technical Committee, where he championed the need for sustainable hydraulic structures engineering. Serving as a member of the International Scientific Committee before the Congress, Stefan also played a visible role in many sessions and events during the event. He spoke in a high-level panel on ‘Empowering a Just and Inclusive Energy Transition: The Strategic Role of Hydropower’ and in a workshop on ‘Advancements in Air-Water Flows in Outlet Structures of Reservoir Dams’. He also formally accepted two certificates under the IAHR-UNESCO label that endorse ���������¼� for providing excellence in education for aspiring water professionals, and was a jury member for the 16^th IAHR John F. Kennedy Student Paper Competition.

Stefan said, “The biennial IAHR World Congress is the highlight event for the global hydro-environment engineering community. It was great to see ���������¼� so well represented across all congress events, showcasing our world-leading expertise in water resources engineering as well as our impactful research and engagement in the Asia-Pacific region to the global water profession.”

“We were able to strengthen our connections with leading research institutes, industry stakeholders and community groups, and the UNSW Global Water Institute’s position as an important institute member of IAHR,” said Stefan.

Stefan was joined by WRL Principal Engineer Brett Miller, who is international expert in all aspects of both wastewater and desalination outfalls. Also among the WRL delegation were three postdoctoral researchers: Dr Katrina (Kate) Waddington, Dr Danica Tothova and Dr Laura Montano. Kate’s presentation was entitled ‘Coastal Floodplains are Highly Vulnerable to a Rising Low Tide – The Drainage Window Condundrum. Danica and Laura both presented research undertaken as part of Project Halophyte—which is seeking to re-instate natural tidal flows and revitalise local mangrove ecosystems in Fiji. Danica’s paper was titled ‘Conceptual Framework for Mangrove-Based Eco-engineering Solutions’ and Laura’s focused on ‘Mangrove Ecosystem Services in Fiji: Bridging Knowledge Gaps in Ecosystem Services Valuation’.  

Laura also played a critical role in the production of the , which was released at the Congress. The Report, which was supported by the UNSW Global Water Institute (���������¼�-GWI), summarises the top five national water priorities of national water associations around the world, exploring three key priorities: emerging game changers, engineering research and development, and grand challenges requiring fundamental research. To develop the report, Laura analysed the results of a survey circulated among leading water national organisations from nine different countries.

“The IAHR Global Water Innovation Report presents a synthesis of the national water association priorities from around the world for the first time," said Laura.

"Although the report gathered responses from diverse regions and contexts, a shared global need was identified: the urgent need for innovation, development, and research focused on climate change adaptation infrastructure and strategies, as well as implementation and validation of Smart Water Management tools.”

“During the launch event, National Water Associations expressed strong interest in contributing to future editions of the report, aiming to share their insights and priorities and to support the development of both national and global water management goals,” Laura added.

IAHR Executive Director Tom Soo said, "Our partnership with ���������¼� GWI has been invaluable in realising this landmark report, in particular the lead taken by Dr. Laura Montano to put together the main synthesis of the country inputs and her presentation of the results at the meeting of national water associations during the IAHR World Congress in Singapore."

Three PhD students from WRL also attended and presented at the congress, with their registration costs funded by ���������¼�-GWI. They were Hiruni Kammanankada, James Zulfan and Dr Reilly Cox—who recently competed his PhD. Hiruni and Reilly presented the latest progress on the interdisciplinary pipe fishway research at ���������¼�; Hiruni’s presentation was entitled ‘Lessons From the Field: Fish Can Go with the Pipe Flow’ and Reilly presented on ‘Alternative Downstream Passage Incorporating Swirling Flows’. James presented on ‘Low-impact Weirs Contributing to Sustainable Development Goals’, and ���������¼� Water Research Centre PhD student Wenhui Wu also attended, presenting on ‘Framework for Planning Nature-based Solutions to Meet Long-Term Catchment Scale Pluvial Flood Mitigation Targets’.

���������¼�-GWI has been a proud institute member of the IAHR since 2019. Participation in IAHR-led projects and events, such as the latest World Congress, is vital in cementing ���������¼�’s strong reputation as in water engineering research and education.