One of the main challenges today is to meet the energy needs of society in a sustainable way. Given the variability of important renewable energy sources such as sun and wind, systems exploiting these sources should be designed and operated as components of an integrated whole, where hydropower can function as a reliable stand-by source. This need for integration is also present in other areas where natural systems serve as vital resources for society. In a world where climate variability and changing societal needs place increasing demands on the flexibility and adaptability of operational systems, we need to explore new methods for the design and operation of systems that depend on natural resources. Tools needed in this context are:

• models of both environmental systems and of management practices that can be used to study the effects of new designs and control algorithms;

• adaptive and resilient ways of setting operational goals for the operational management of environmental systems;

• control systems to implement these goals;

• ways to ensure that our goals and control systems exploit synergies and avoid potential conflicts for multi-resource and multi-sector systems.

The session is associated with Panta Rhei working group "Natural and man-made control systems in water resources" and welcomes papers addressing the above mentioned points, especially in the context of hybrid power systems and water resource systems used for irrigation, drainage, water supply (potable water, industrial water, cooling water) and transport of goods.