Alliance for Water Stewardship
AWS works with five priority business sectors to deepen its engagement with water stewardship. Click on the buttons below to find out more.
Our five priority business sectors are:
Select a priority sector to view more.
AWS’s five priority sectors have a big impact on global water resources through their operations and supply chains. They also have significant influence and have been willing to use their leadership to support AWS with its water stewardship goals.
AWS’s strategy is to engage multinational companies and their stakeholders at a global level, and encourage context-driven action by brands, producers, suppliers, and other public sector and civil society stakeholders at local levels.
Our work comes to life through collaborative global communities of practice and national platforms that focus on the opportunities, challenges and solutions to implementing water stewardship.
Partnership is key. Together, we raise awareness of sector water challenges and demonstrate the benefits of water stewardship for businesses, their supply chains and the communities in which they operate.
AWS Communities of Practice (CoPs) allow organisations to collaborate with other business leaders, NGOs and regional experts to get a deeper understanding of water challenges. They are also an opportunity to share experiences of implementing water stewardship and to set the future agenda.
Join an AWS Community of Practice and you will find purpose-driven individuals united in a mission to protect the Earth’s freshwater resources.
You do not need to be an AWS Member to join a CoP but, once you’ve joined, we hope you will be inspired to sign up.
We convene the following Communities of Practice:
Biodiversity
Cross-sector
Agricultural value chains
Pharmaceuticals, chemicals & personal care
Textiles & apparel
The AWS Collective Action Accelerator is a collective, place-based approach to water stewardship. It offers a way to engage with water stewardship and the AWS Standard that is cost-efficient, scalable and replicable. The programme provides a pre-competitive opportunity for companies to work towards collaborative solutions to shared water challenges in important sourcing hubs facing high water risk.
The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) China Representative Office hosted the Shanghai Water Stewardship Forum in the Jing’an District of Shanghai on 22 October 2025. Representatives from the public sector, international brands, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), certified sites and auditors gathered
“Japanese companies are already aware of water risks, and water is deeply embedded in Japanese culture. I see great potential to build on this foundation and further strengthen Japan’s leadership in sustainable water management.” – Kei Namba, AWS Sector Coordinator
