From 2003 to 2014 Bob and the team at CMS worked closely and successfully with Justin Taberham and the team at the Chartered Institution for Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) on one hundred conferences for the water sector.

These events covered both management and policy issues for a very wide array of topics (see below). Bob was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of CIWEM for his efforts.

The conferences were highly successful at attracting audiences of between 100-300 people often focussed on the key thematic professional groups of CIWEM. They often covered themes which developed year on year into key areas of policy development. In this respect close working between Bob, CIWEM staff and government (Defra, DCLG), agency officials consultancies and eNGOs was the basis of their success. The aims and objectives of the meetings were developed with leading players on the conference topic to create agendas and programmes that covered the perspectives of many different sectors within the industry working on particular themes.

Themes covered included:

• Flooding, riverine and surface water flooding, urban drainage and property level flood protection. Specific policy themes including Making Space for Water – with Defra, a new PPG on surface water flooding with DCLG, and work across the blue light sectors post the 2007 floods
• Catchment management – farming practice and advice, diffuse pollution, catchment sensitive farming and restoration methodologies
• The Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) – leading the communications programme for Defra at the outset of the CaBA programme from 2010 onward
• World Wetlands Day – a series of six annual meetings
• The development of the Water Framework Directive – in close liaison with the Environment Agency
• Droughts and water resource management
• Climate change – including a workshop for CIWEM staff and officers to develop CIWEM policy
• The Ofwat Periodic Review process
• The environmental impact of freshwater hydro-power schemes
• The CIWEM Annual Conference
• Miscellany of topics including participation approaches in the environmental sector, European EIA regulations, anaerobic digestion, air pollution, economic valuation

In addition to the CIWEM conferences CMS ran events for other water sector organisations including The National Flood Forum, the Salmon & Trout Association and Defra (economic appraisal of WFD & European leadership).

Digital files on all these conferences are available from Bob@bobearll.co.uk