IDRA World Congress 2026
About the event
The IDRA World Congress 2026 convenes in Riyadh for the first time in the Kingdom, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture and hosted by the Saudi Water Authority, under the theme "Driving Global Water Sustainability Through Innovation". Across five days, global water leaders, decision-makers and innovators gather to accelerate the systems, regulations, technologies and financing needed for reliable, low-carbon water supplies.
The technical programme runs four days across four parallel tracks covering ten topics and fifty-eight subtopics — from research and innovation, circular water economy and net zero, digital transformation and AI, and energy efficiency, to potable reuse regulation and project success stories — alongside a large international exhibition.
Day one hosts the inaugural Water Regulation Forum, a new annual global platform established by the Saudi Water Authority with IDRA as strategic partner, and the second Global Desalination Hackathon organised with ACWA Power under the theme "Intelligent Desalination: Innovate for Impact".
Registration is in US dollars: IDRA members $1,400 (early bird to 30 April) then $1,600; non-members $1,650 then $1,850; full-time professors and students (members) $750 then $850; speakers and session chairs $850; public utilities $825–$1,075.
Agenda
11- Sun 1 Nov | Global Desalination Hackathon (pre-congress workshop)النسخة الثانية بتنظيم أكوا باور والجمعية الدولية، بشعار «التحلية الذكية: ابتكر للأثر» — حلول ذكاء اصطناعي لخفض استهلاك الطاقة والكيماويات في محطات التناضح العكسي.
- 09:15–09:30Sun 1 Nov | Water Regulation Forum: welcome and opening remarks
- 09:30–10:45Session 1: North and South America water regulation models
- 10:50–12:00Session 2: regulatory compliance and performance monitoring in the European water sector
- 12:00–12:30Networking break
- 12:30–13:30Session 3: integration between government, the private sector and finance
- 13:30–13:45Bilateral dialogue: regulatory framework for direct potable reuse
- 13:45–15:05Session 4: how emerging economies are moving beyond traditional regulatory models
- 15:05–16:05Session 5: towards regulatory integration across the GCC
- 16:30–16:50Launch of the Water Regulation Exchange
- Mon 2 – Thu 5 Nov | Technical programme and international exhibitionأربعة أيام في أربعة مسارات متوازية: عشرة موضوعات رئيسية وثمانية وخمسون موضوعاً فرعياً، من البحث والابتكار إلى الحياد الصفري والتحول الرقمي وكفاءة الطاقة وتشريعات إعادة الاستخدام، مع المعرض الدولي المصاحب.
