Water resource management is essential to sustainability, especially in view of global environmental change driven by climate, population, and land cover change activities. The topic is included within the U.N Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6): ‘Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.’ As Leiden University and adjacent local organizations span a diverse range of expertise related to the field of water resource management, we organize a symposium to address key challenges and opportunities to the development of sustainable water management through a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective.