King’s Water had a strong presence at the XVth World Water Congress in Edinburgh during the week of 25-29 May. Students, staff, research associates and alumni presented their papers, convened special sessions and took part in roundtable discussions:
Martin Keulertz , Research Associate, Tony Allan, Emeritus Professor, and Mark Mulligan, Reader in Geography, kicked off debate on global food and water supply chain investment and trade during a special session on ‘Food and water security: New actors in the global water trade’. Mark went to on speak on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessments at a special session hosted by the James Hutton Institute and UNESCO.
Kris Chan, PhD student, presented his latest work on ‘Re-evaluating the environmental impacts of hydroelectric dams in Southeast Asia: Indirect impacts through livelihood alternation’ and did a joint presentation with Naho Mirumachi, lecturer, on ‘Measurements, meanings and modernity: Understanding impacts of hydropower development’. Naho also convened a two part special session with colleagues from University of Arizona and the London Water Research Group on ‘Questioning water governance: From concepts to practice’ and ‘Levelling players and context: Re-examining policy for transboundary water allocation and governance. She also spoke about the law and politics of scientific data and information sharing within a transboundary water setting for a roundtable on ‘Incorporating the science evidence base into water policy and law – catchment, national and transboundary challenges and perspectives’.
Regina Buono, a graduate of the MSc Water: Science and Governance programme presented her work she is doing now at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University. Her paper ‘A new frontier in Texas? Managing and regulating brackish groundwater’ analysed the legal aspects and policy development of this potential freshwater source.
See more details of the conference at http://worldwatercongress.com