Sustainable water management is a key environmental challenge of the 21st century. Developing and implementing innovative management approaches and how to cope with the increasing complexity and uncertainties is the theme of the Vth World Aqua Congress i.e. Adaptive and Integrated Water Management. Papers on conceptual and methodological innovations and empirical insights on important themes such as multi-level governance, vulnerability assessment, environmental flows, participatory modelling and the impacts of climate change will be presented.