Newcastle University advances the global water crisis debate
Leading international experts and scientists from the UK, Brazil, Finland, France, Italy, Kenya, Mexico and Palestine, joined forces to tackle the main challenges facing the international community surrounding the current global water crisis at a special public workshop led by Newcastle University.
- (1888PressRelease) September 03, 2011 - José Esteban Castro, event co-ordinator and professor of sociology within the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University, said: "There was a shared vision among the participants that globally, the current systems of water governance, management, distribution and consumption are fundamentally unjust, often undemocratic, and largely unsustainable in ecological, socio-economic and political terms.
"It is widely recognised that we face a global water crisis, particularly affecting the poorest countries, but this crisis is not the result of water scarcity or a lack of technologies and expertise for the efficient government and management of water. For the workshop's experts, the main causes of the crisis are social, ethical, and, predominantly political."
The workshop participants covered a wide range of topics, from water management in arid and semi-arid regions of China, India, Iran, Nigeria, the Middle East and Peru, to the sustainability of water and sanitation services in European countries. Along with the struggles to democratise the management of water services in France and Italy, after the remunicipalisation of water and sanitation services in Paris in 2009 and the recent referendum to ban water privatisation in Italy.
Another part of the debate focused on the global challenges linked to the quality of groundwater sources by pollution and other threats, and the need for more supportive action for rural development projects which need to adapt to climate change in arid and semi-arid regions.
The participants also shared their experiences on how to tackle the water and sanitation deficit in countries like Brazil, Egypt, Haiti, India, Mexico, Peru, and provided examples of how even simple technologies can deliver far-reaching results.
"The event aimed to raise awareness, broaden the debate and draw on the knowledge and expertise of our global research networks to maximise what academics and universities can do to help the situation," explains Castro.
"There's a real need to break with disciplinary boundaries, because the problems posed by the water crisis are multidimensional and can't be rigidly categorised into technical, administrative, or governmental policy areas.
"Big water companies who go into the developing world want to make a profit and are not there to solve social problems. Worldwide, 17% of the population lacks access to essential volumes of clean drinking water and 40% have no access to basic sanitation.
"We believe there is a genuine need for an inter-disciplinary approach, which requires coordination, and this is where our international GOBACIT and WATERLAT research networks can make a valid contribution, by bringing together technical and social science disciplines and encouraging the participation of non academics and wider society.
"It's a controversial subject, not everyone agrees this can be done, should be done, or to what extent it should be done," said Castro.
Other issues hotly debated during the workshop were the problems facing water management activities in conflict zones, as in the case of the water inequality conditions currently affecting Palestinians in the context of military occupation.
Also, the participants discussed the importance of planning and effective public policy to ensure that everyone can enjoy the basic human right to essential water services, and the difficulties resulting from the privatisation of the water sector, which has led to water services becoming the object of market speculation rather than a public good.
The event was hosted by the University's School of Geography, Politics & Sociology in partnership with the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability (NIReS), which is the hub of interdisciplinary research at Newcastle University around water resources, wastewater treatment, drainage, flooding, and climate change impacts.
The workshop featured a variety of keynote speakers of international acclaim. They included Prof. Mike Edmunds, an hydrogeologist from Oxford University, Prof. Bernard Barraqué, research director in environmental policy at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris, Prof. Leó Heller a specialist in sanitary engineering based at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, Prof. Blanca Jiménez, an environmental engineer at Mexico's National Autonomous University, and Dr Ayman Rabi, civil engineering expert within the Palestinian Hydrology Group based in Ramallah, Palestine.
Castro concludes: "The Newcastle workshop enabled us to map expertise and identify four strategic areas which members of the international research network will focus on going forward. These are: 1) Water conflicts and water governance and management in conflict situations; 2) the politics of urban water services; 3) rural-urban interfaces of the water cycle; and 4) water management and climate change.
"The international community has the goal to universalise access to water by 2025, which means a huge effort with many countries already experiencing water shortages and heavy pollution of freshwater resources the challenges ahead are tremendous.
"One of the main messages to come out of the Newcastle workshop is that the preservation and availability of clean water crucially depends on the development of forms of water governance and management that are grounded on the principles of equality and sustainability.
"Put simply, this means overcoming boundaries to bring together expertise from across the social, natural and technical sciences. Experts need to involve non academics in the sharing of knowledge and expertise, to ensure users, communities and citizens are not just passive actors but become involved in the process."
The Newcastle workshop is just one of a series of activities taking place throughout 2011 as part of the 'Enough for all forever' sustainability campaign to celebrate Newcastle University's world-leading work on sustainability.
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