Following an initiative of prof. W. Kollossov the IGU Thematic Conference: Practical Geography and XXI Century Challenges was held in in Moscow, 4–6 June 2018 supported by the Commission. The conference was dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IGRAS) as largest geographical research organisation in Russia and attracted 750 participants representing 36 countries. As part of one of the eight themes of the conference (Theme 2: Environmental Challenges) our Commission held the following sessions headed by proffs. N. Frolova and M. Bolgov and attended by a number of Commission members:

1.Water resources in the conditions of climate change
2. Water management : modern principles, methods, results
3. Water pollution and health impacts
4. Extreme hydrological events