The Indus River basin – shared by Afghanistan, China, India, and Pakistan – is critical for over 268 million people who call it home. But rapid changes, such as population growth, urbanization, and climate change are putting strain on the basin’s limited natural resources. If the Indus is to continue providing ecosystem and livelihood services, development must be cooperative, equitable, and sustainable. To ensure that it is, we must understand the challenges facing the Indus and establish a baseline understanding to respond to future impacts, which will aid policymaking and improve how the basin is managed.

Building on previous meetings and initiatives such as the Indus Forum; the Upper Indus Basin Network; and the Global Environment Facility-funded Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy and Land project (ISWEL), the Indus Basin Knowledge Forum (IBKF) brings together researchers and policymakers from the four countries in the basin and beyond to share knowledge and collaborate to manage resources sustainably. It aims to strengthen the connections among those working in policymaking, research, and knowledge generation. This meeting, convened by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and the World Bank, will be the third of its kind and will build on the outcomes of the last session held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in July 2017.

See a multimedia overview of last year’s event, including interviews with participants.

See the event agenda.

Follow the event on twitter using #IBKF.

Parts of the event will be live-streamed. View the livestream.