Nearly 400 participants from all over the world gathered in Marseille on 3-4 June to launch the 2-year preparatory process for the 6th World Water Forum. France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy officially opened the meeting with a reception at the Elysée, in Paris, on 2 June, followed by 2 days of roundtable discussions and workshops, imagining what the 6th World Water Forum could aspire to be. Building on the outcomes from the 5th World Water Forum of Istanbul and other recognised international processes, participants were asked to go beyond identifying important themes and issues, and instead to think about solutions to the world’s major water and sanitation challenges and how to achieve them. Indeed, the 6th World Water Forum will strive to be the “Forum of Solutions.” The development process will aim to find solutions by first identifying targets for a certain number of priority issues. The approach will consequently create greater linkages between regions and actors, since one solution may require a myriad of individuals to achieve it.