Water Security Hub

Description

The Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub's vision is to enable sustainable water security through developing and demonstrating a systems approach that better understands water systems; values all aspects of water; and strengthens water governance to enable integrated water management.

The climate crisis and the environment are critical issues that underpin and inform the Hub’s research: a large part of members' work focuses on adaptation and resilience for climate change. Water is the most sensitive risk to climate change - flood risks are increasing with no sign of abating, storms are intensifying, and droughts and water scarcity are on their way up. Preparedness for hazards and risks like these is of the utmost importance. It is crucial to determine appropriate and sustainable climate change adaptation options and find the best ways forward as quickly as possible - the need for planning and action is greater than ever.

Other areas of members' research include equitable water supply; lower cost, more sustainable water strategies; wastewater treatment; urban water planning; flood management; health and sanitation; catchment management; integrated and accessible data; pollution; policy and decision-making; funding and finance; and community engagement and empowerment. To achieve this, the Hub is developing a transformative systems approach that recognises the complexity, interactions, and interdependencies between the people, institutions, natural environment, and infrastructure involved in water security.