FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 8th SADC Groundwater Conference - Shared Aquifers, Equal Voices: Accelerating Groundwater Resilience for a Water-Secure Future

We invite you to submit oral and poster abstracts for the upcoming 8th Annual Southern African Development Community (SADC) Groundwater Conference, hosted by the SADC Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) in collaboration with regional and International partners. The conference is held annually, providing a platform for advancing knowledge sharing on sustainable groundwater management at national and transboundary levels across the SADC Member States.

The conference will be held from Wednesday, 18 November 2026, to Friday, 20 November 2026, at Delta Hotel, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. When submitting an abstract, please note that we plan to hold this event in person.

We seek cutting-edge best practices and presentations addressing the theme and sub-themes below. However, all presentation topics that advance our groundwater knowledge are welcome.

Please direct all enquiries to thokozani@sadc-gmi.org.

Background

Throughout the SADC region and beyond, groundwater remains an unobtrusive yet fundamental resource underpinning communities and economies. It supplies towns and cities, supports rural livelihoods, enables agriculture and industry, and provides resilience during droughts and climate variability.

Yet because groundwater is largely out of sight, it is often undervalued, poorly governed, and fragmented across institutions and national boundaries.

The conference theme — “Shared Aquifers, Equal Voices” — recognises that groundwater systems are interconnected, while decisions regarding their use are often disconnected across mandates, sectors, and borders.

Enhancing groundwater resilience requires collective stewardship, shared governance frameworks, inclusive participation, coordinated monitoring, transparent data sharing, and sustained regional dialogue.

Subthemes of the conference

Sub-theme 1: Beyond the Borehole - Gender-Transformative Approaches to Water Security

This sub-theme explores how inclusion, equity, and participation shape groundwater governance outcomes across shared aquifers.

Contributions may address gender-transformative governance, accessibility, traditional leadership, community engagement, safeguarding, financing models, and measurable approaches to equity and participation.

Sub-theme 2: Technology, Tools & Transboundary Trust - Innovating for Shared Security

This sub-theme examines how technology, shared monitoring, open data platforms, and collaborative modelling can strengthen trust and cooperation across transboundary aquifers.

Contributions are invited on participatory monitoring, model transparency, data governance, technical cooperation, and innovation that supports accountability and regional resilience.

Sub-theme 3: Irrigation for Adaptation - Climate-Smart Agriculture & Groundwater Governance

This sub-theme focuses on balancing agricultural adaptation with aquifer sustainability.

Topics may include climate-smart irrigation, demand management, conjunctive use, governance frameworks, extension systems, subsidy models, and equitable access to groundwater resources.

Conference modalities

The conference modalities included high-level plenary sessions focusing on the theme and sub-themes, technical presentations, and panel discussions led by the partners of the SADC-GMI. Partners and Stakeholders wishing to run special sessions and panel discussions under the sponsorship program must submit an expression of interest by 30 June 2026 and a programme in line with the conference's theme by 30 September 2026.

Submission of abstracts

Authors are invited to submit abstracts for both oral and poster presentations for the sub-themes outlined above. Authors are requested to indicate the sub-theme for which they are making submissions.

Deadline: 30 June 2026

Abstract specifications

The conference uses the EasyChair conference platform for abstract submissions. We request the authors to:

• Have a concise and informative title that accurately captures the scope of the presentation. • Authors are discouraged from using excessively long titles • Be written in English, French, or Portuguese • indicate the authors of the abstract and their affiliations with the corresponding author, clearly marked, and contact details provided • Provide the main results, the main conclusion, statement of the problem, objectives, methods, and results • Avoid using abbreviations • Be a maximum of 200 words • Provide keywords for the abstract (up to 5)

Abstracts will be peer-reviewed by the Technical Committee, which comprises representatives from universities, international institutions, and national governments.

Submission of abstracts

The Technical Committee reserves the right to reject or accept an abstract. By submitting an abstract, the authors commit to registering the presenting author by 30 August 2026.

Important dates

Submission of Expressions of Interest for the Sponsorship program: 30 June 2026 Submission deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2026 Notification of abstract acceptance: 15 August 2026 Confirmation by authors and presenting authors' registration: 30 August 2026 Final Program: 31 October 2026 Conference run: 18, 19, and 20 November 2026

Registration costs Early bird conference registration: 19 September 2025 Physical conference attendance: 250 USD.

Late conference registration: Physical conference attendance: 300 USD. Young professionals/ Students (Below 35 years old) 100 USD

Payment details Payments are to be made through the account below: Account names: SADC-GMI Bank: ABSA Account number: 4107554267 Branch code: 632005 SWIFT Code: ABSAZAJJ Send the proof of payment to monica@sadc-gmi.org after you have made payment.

Oral and Poster Presentation Guidelines

Keynote and invited talk

1. Keynote and invited speakers are allocated 20 minutes to deliver their presentation, with an additional 10 minutes for a Q&A
2. The presentation file should ideally contain approximately 15-20 PowerPoint slides, based on the allocated presentation time. You are responsible for the content of your presentation. The conference organizers will provide a PowerPoint template to use for the presentations.

Presentation Guideline

1. Presenters are allocated 10 minutes to deliver their presentation and 5 minutes for a Q&A.
2. The presentation file should ideally contain approximately 10-12 PowerPoint slides, based on the allocated time for the presentation. You are responsible for the content of your presentation. A PowerPoint template will be provided.
3. All presenters must submit their presentation file to the session operator on a USB memory stick during registration on the first day of the conference, or at least 30 minutes prior to the session's start time. It is not possible to use your computer for your presentation.
4. Suppose your presentation contains links to video files. You must bring not only your PowerPoint file but also your video files to the operator. All videos linked to PowerPoint slides must be checked to ensure proper functioning.
5. Please note that each presenter is given a maximum of 1 podium presentation per meeting. If a presenter has multiple abstracts deemed acceptable for the conference, the presenter must either (1) decline all but 1 podium presentation or (2) make arrangements for a co-author to present the abstract.