The Centre for International Studies commemorated the 25th anniversary of the International Relations programme at TU Dresden with a conference on SDG6 "Cleaner Water and Sanitation"

From the 9th to the 11th of November, the academic conference, "Realising Sustainable Development post-2030: The International Politics, Economics and Law of Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG6)," took place. An exciting programme with international experts was offered to shed light on the complex issue of water from various interdisciplinary perspectives. 

Commencing with the opening ceremony held in the city hall on the evening of 9th November, we proceeded to a comprehensive one-day scientific conference concerning "Clean Water and Sanitation" (SDG6) on Friday, 10th November.

Today, 771 million people - one in ten - have no access to clean water and 1.7 billion people - one in four - have no access to a toilet. Water is the most vital resource for life on earth. The symposium aimed to take stock of the legal, economic, social and political determinants of (un)sustainable and (un)equal access to clean water and sanitation and to discuss the prospects for the realisation of SDG6.

In this context, Prof Dr Anna Holzscheiter chaired a panel that dealt with the political determinants of SDG6, the governance structure and political solutions at the intersection of environment, security and health. Prof Dr Lena Partzsch (Free University of Berlin), Prof Dr Manuel Fischer (University of Bern) and Larika Waldmann (German Water Partnership) were among the guests. Together, they discussed questions of accountability and responsibility in the context of existing political measures and partnerships to achieve SDG6 and examined SDG6 in the context of the future of the United Nations and the geopolitical, financial and institutional challenges for the future development agenda.

Finally, the Volker Heinsberg Prize for outstanding theses in the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in International Relations was awarded on 11 November. Katharina Zimmer's Master's thesis titled "Der Bedeutungswandel psychischer Gesundheit als Gegensand globaler Gesundheitspolitik" was honoured as the best Master's thesis of 2021.

As the thesis supervisor, Prof Dr Anna Holzscheiter was invited to give the laudatory speech. This marked a wonderful conclusion to an exciting conference that emphasised the relevance of interdisciplinary cooperation on the example of SDG6. The International Relations degree programme has been providing young students with an interdisciplinary education for 25 years and thereby preparing graduates for pressing global challenges