The tenth edition of Stormwater Poland marks a symbolic milestone. It is no longer just a series of conferences but a chronicle of the evolution of a field that has gained new significance and standing in Poland. Over this decade, we have learned that stormwater is not a marginal aspect of water management, but its beating heart – one of the key factors shaping the everyday life of our cities. We have witnessed how streets, squares, and parks have changed, and how more and more municipalities recognize that managing rainwater is an investment in safety, quality of life, and resilience to climate change.
The jubilee edition of Stormwater Poland 2026 is an opportunity to reflect on this journey. The opening session – The Water decade – will attempt to take stock of what has happened over the past ten years. What lessons have we learned? What mistakes have we made? What successes are worth drawing inspiration from? For ten years, we have cultivated the international character of the conference, inviting experts from around the world. For ten years, we have sought local inspiration, inviting Polish cities that are dynamically evolving before our eyes. Now it is time to look back and ask whether the direction we have taken will allow us to meet the challenges of the coming decade.
However, we cannot speak about the future without acknowledging the pressing problems faced by Polish cities today. Increasingly long and severe droughts alternate with torrential rains that paralyze entire regions. Therefore, the next session – Drought, flood, and the future of water – will aim to understand the two extreme phenomena that shape our daily lives with equal force. We must learn to see them together: not as separate problems, but as two sides of the same climate crisis. Only then will it be possible to find solutions that enable us both to retain water when it is scarce and to safely convey excess when rainfall is abundant. This year, we intend to view these challenges from multiple, sometimes unconventional perspectives, concluding with insights from legislators and policymakers – to understand what the future may bring.
The following day will be dedicated to the future and to what today still appears as a vision but may soon become our everyday reality. In the session Visionaries of water, we will explore technologies that are transforming our tools and ways of thinking: artificial intelligence supporting system design and modeling, digital twins of cities enabling real-time infrastructure management, and circular economy approaches that treat rainwater as a local resource. These are not distant prospects but directions that already set the pace of innovation. It is worth considering how to use these tools wisely and to what extent they can help cities not only respond to crises but also anticipate and prevent them.
Yet, any reflection on the future of cities would be incomplete without acknowledging those who shape them – officials, architects, planners, ecologists, and engineers. Their work influences not only the urban landscape and aesthetics but also our daily lives through the formulation of legal, planning, and technical frameworks. Sometimes, by simply building a bridge or walkway, they completely transform the dynamics of urban development or become the driving force of cooperation in systems previously seen as fragmented initiatives. Water connects – and becomes a catalyst for change. This is the focus of the final session – Architects of water. Because water is not only the infrastructure hidden underground, but also an element shaping the spaces we inhabit: green boulevards, de-paved squares, and retention parks that make cities more resilient and more livable. Landscape architecture, urban planning, and spatial design are becoming as important as engineering calculations – and, increasingly, they are integral parts of municipal utilities and departments responsible for stormwater management. In this session, we will show how thinking about water transforms into thinking about the city – and how water becomes the bond linking technology, nature, and culture.
Stormwater Poland 2026 is not only an anniversary and not only a conference. It is a meeting place where diverse perspectives – from science, administration, business, local governments, and civil society – converge to seek answers to the questions that will shape the future of our cities. Because that future, regardless of climate scenarios, begins with water.
Join us in Poznań, on 3–4 March 2026, at the Earth Hall (Sala Ziemi) of the Poznań International Fair, to conclude a decade of experience and open the next – one full of new challenges, but also new opportunities.
Brak nadchodzących wydarzeń.
