Water and Sustainable Development

Climate change and related exceptional weather conditions are here to stay. Whether it concerns droughts, floods or any of the other climate extremes, the world urgently needs to adapt to ‘the new normal’.

There are three main components to this track: describing and quantifying spatiotemporal climate risks; developing fit-for-purpose adaptation pathways and associated measures and defining appropriate approaches in governance, engineering and information.

Depending on your interest, you might focus on cities, river basins, coastal or dryland areas, that all come with their own particular climate challenges. Depending which profile you choose, amongst a wide range of other topics, you will learn about water sensitive cities and sustainable urban drainage; climate adaptation politics, water conflicts and financing; drought and flood management; artificial intelligence and decisions support systems or about sea level rise and coastal adaptation in rapidly urbanizing deltas.

Safe water and sanitation are the primary drivers of public and environmental health and are human rights. Improving service levels to provide safely managed drinking water and sanitation, such as regulated piped water and a complete sanitation service chain, can dramatically improve public wellbeing.

This track engages with the direct and indirect linkages between water and health. You will learn how wastewater, drinking water and sanitation relate to urbanization, climate change, human behaviour and aspirations.

You will be introduced to the key management and governance dimensions, challenges and solutions. Depending on the profile you choose, you will learn to adequately evaluate, develop, design, and manage sanitation or drinking water provision, including treatment and re-use, transport and distribution, or learn more about the broader technological, socio-economic and public health issues, including management and governance.

Food and energy production require substantial amounts of water. At the same time, water scarcity, and the decline of ecosystems threaten equitable access to food and energy.

You will examine water related linkages between food and low-carbon energy production, critically assessing possible trade-offs and synergies.

Integrated approaches for land and water management will be considered in the broader context of land tenure and water reform processes, relating this to markets, technologies and social justice.

You will learn to critically analyse how changes in water and land allocation, to produce food and energy, shape processes of rural transformation and livelihoods of different groups in society. Depending on the profile you choose, you will learn to develop appropriate governance mechanisms and digital innovations; plan, design, operate and maintain irrigation infrastructure or develop and integrate new and existing forms of water-based energy, amongst many other subjects. In summary, this track aims for society’s transformation to more sustainable and equitable practices.

Globally, ecosystems and the water resources they support are in perilous decline. Maintaining healthy ecosystems is the basis for delivering resources equitably and efficiently to support people’s health and well-being and is the basis for sustainability.

You will learn about the movement of water through the landscape and how to apply this knowledge to support sustainable management of river basins.

You will study the basic concepts and interlinkages in the biosphere, the role of biodiversity, the hydrological cycle, their relationship with ecosystem health and how this underpins human health and wellbeing. Depending on the profile you choose, you will learn about measuring and monitoring, data analysis, GIS and remote sensing, simulation modelling, the value of open access data and software, river basin development and environmental management policy processes, and methods for planning and managing. Ultimately you will be able to apply your expertise to achieve sustainable Water Resources and Ecosystem Health in an interdisciplinary setting.