About
The Global Commission on the Economics of Water
The Global Commission on the Economics of Water (GCEW) was initiated in 2022 with the aim to redefine the way we value and govern water for the common good. The Commission's final report, titled 'The Economics of Water – Valuing the Hydrological Cycle as a Global Common Good' was published on 17 October 2024. It articulates the transitions needed in food, energy, cities, finance, and other sectors if we are to protect water and make it an invaluable ally in our fight against climate change. The report was hailed by international media and experts as a “landmark”, as its scientists and economists were able to produce "the biggest global study to examine all aspects of the water crisis and suggest remedies for policymakers."
Rather than a commodity, water is a key component in ensuring a just future for all people and the planet. Based on the Commission's final report, there is no future without a stabilized hydrological cycle and the responsibility and opportunity for that stabilization lies in the hands of us all. The true value of water can only be found across society, and it is only through collective efforts and actions that we can reverse course.
The birth of 'Flying Rivers'
The Global Commission on the Economics of Water is one of many Global Commissions – on climate, biodiversity, earth, and food – and a wide range of efforts to move towards a more sustainable, just, resilient, and secure world. But the myriads of approaches, while similar in ambition and scope, are hindered by fragmentation and a lack of consistency and continuity in driving impact on the ground. This means that, ultimately, the success of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water will depend on its impact beyond the pages of its final report…
With this in mind, in April 2024, the Commission hosted fifteen distinguished thinkers and practitioners from around the world at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Centre, at Lake Como, inviting them to respond to the Commission's work until that point, and conceptualize innovative ways of achieving long-term impact – particularly, through the creation of new coalitions. In this context, artist Bill Balaskas put forward the creation of an international cultural programme under the title 'Flying Rivers', which would take advantage of the extraordinary capacity of the cultural sector to educate, motivate, provoke, and activate through art and creativity.
The participants of the Bellagio Convention were Brinda Adhikari, Media Strategist; Bill Balaskas, Artist; Carter Brandon, WRI; Joachim Declerck, Architecture Workroom Brussels; Rada Dogandjieva, Dalberg Catalyst; Anna Dupont, Water Global Affairs expert, OECD, GCEW; Shahnoor Hasan, Deltares; Morten Højer, City of Copenhagen; Kuku, Musician; Adrian Lahoud, Royal College of Art; Cate Lamb, UNEP FI, CDP; Musonda Mumba, Ramsar Convention; Henk Ovink, Executive Director GCEW; Philip Rode, LSE Cities; Caterina Ruggeri Laderchi, Food System Economics Commission; Lisa Scholten, Delft University of Technology; Eliza Swedenborg, WRI; Lucy Watkinson, Secretariat GCEW; Denise Young, Writer and Strategic Communications Leader.
Why 'Flying Rivers'?
The 'Flying Rivers' cultural programme has two main components-goals. The first is to communicate to a wide audience the crucial role of water in our economies and in successfully tackling the climate crisis. The latter relates particularly to valuing and safeguarding "green" water; namely, the invisible water that is stored in the plants and soil and plays a key role in the regulation of our planet's climate through its evaporation and distribution through rain. This distribution underpins the second component-goal of the programme, which is to create an international museums consortium based on the connections of museum locations through "atmospheric rivers" or water vapour – what one could more poetically refer to as "flying rivers". These flying rivers serve as a reminder that we are and have always been connected in space and time, equal in all terms to the Earth, undistinguished by politics, cultures, and beliefs.
The logo
The logo of 'Flying Rivers' was created by young designer Odette Dierkx in collaboration with Bill Balaskas and Studio KT1. Its aim has been to bring together the key elements of the hydrological cycle through a visual language combining figuration and abstraction. The logo's central lines-strokes allude to both the shape of a river stream and the movement of sea waves – a reminder of the constant exchange of moisture flows between the oceans and the land. At the same time, the upper line-stroke is also reminiscent of the shape of a bird, thus referencing the idea of flying as well as highlighting the dependence of all creatures living in the Earth's biosphere on the hydrological cycle. The text of the logo is inspired by that of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, as it uses the same font, while also adopting the two droplets featured in the Commission's logo: a blue droplet for "blue" water (the water we can see in all its forms), and a green droplet for "green" water (the water stored in the soil and plants, which we cannot see).
