261112 UNESCO IHP AI for Water Management Expert Group

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Kick-off of UNESCO IHP's AI for Water Management Expert Group (online, 12 Nov 2026)

Attended the kick-off with 21 experts from 12 organisations and documented the session </aside>

Here is a summary of today’s kick-off meeting of the UNESCO IHP AI for Water Management Expert Group.

Key points

Strategy: IHP is drafting an AI for Water strategy under IHP-IX Output 1.9 on new technologies, led by Korea (Inhwan Park, IHP-ROK). It has 4 pillars: tool development, pilots, AI literacy, and readiness/policy. No new flagship is planned; AI will be mainstreamed across existing IHP flagships.
Expert group: 21 experts from 12 organisations will work in 4 work streams: strategy support, the AI course, outreach and partnerships, including links with AI for Good and AICI.
Open learning course: Antonio Moreno Rodenas (CSIC) is coordinating a free 10–15 hour course on the IHP Open Learning Platform, in English first and then Spanish. It has 4 modules: AI basics, techniques, applications, and ethics/risks. The target is 10,000 learners by 2029.
Webinar: “AI and open-source tools for water” will take place online in December. It runs about 90 minutes, with 10-minute tool demos.

Partner feedback

IWMI: Asked for a broader, end-user-focused scope and co-ownership beyond UNESCO; offered its AI governance guidelines.
IRCAI: Offered support on AI ethics and LLMs.
China Three Gorges University: Offered digital twin and LLM case studies; proposed a workshop in China in 2027.
UT Austin: Proposed a workshop on data centres and water, and joint white papers.

Timeline

This week: Recording, slides and the contribution table shared on IHP-WINS
30 November: Deadline to propose webinar presenters
December: Webinar presenters and course authors confirmed; strategy comments collected, then final version
January 2027: Next Expert Group meeting
1 February 2027: Deadline for course authors to send their recorded lectures and slides

Follow-up discussed