Water and Special Projects (WAT): Scientific Achievements in 2012

The IIASA Water Program aims to provide integrated solution-oriented approaches to the multiple global challenges of water provision and resource management in the context of sustainable development. 

The IIASA Water Program (WAT) was established in 2012 as part of the Food and Water Research Area. It aims to provide integrated solution-oriented approaches to the multiple global challenges of water provision and resource management in the context of sustainable development.

The natural synergies that occur between water and agricultural land use research is reflected in the research highlighted under "Special Projects"— studies that are included under the Water Program and form an integral part of it.

The new Water Program responds to the need for an interdisciplinary assessment of water challenges and solutions at the global level against a background of climate change, the urgency of preserving Earth's biodiversity, and achieving food security for a world population that will burgeon to 10 billion by 2050.

These broadly expressed aims embrace a multiplicity of interconnected challenges, both large and small, some of which are poorly understood or as yet unknown. Thus the first objective of the new Water Program in 2012 was to launch an initiative to develop a new generation of integrated global water scenarios that are consistent with other global scenarios, for example, on food, energy, air pollution, environment. This initiative has become the flagship project "Water Futures and Solutions: World Water Scenarios." As a partnership between IIASA, UNESCO, the World Water Council, the International Water Association, and the Korean Government, the flagship project aims to create and test a number of scenarios for future water resources, and also to bring together decision makers to discuss a common vision on water for the future.

The initiative builds on UNESCO’s World Water Scenarios, results of which were released in March 2012.

Exploring the Water Nexus Areas

At a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in October 2012, Dr. Kabat discussed the research tying into the water-energy nexus, emphasizing the need to study water and energy together, because the two systems are intertwined. More

Putting Water Research on the Global Scientific Agenda

In a number of interviews and keynote speeches, IIASA Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Pavel Kabat, called for a long-term system approach to water research, new partnerships with the developing world and a change in donor practices, to tackle water-climate issues. More

Water Futures and Solutions: Flagship Project

The IIASA Flagship Project on "Water Futures and Solutions: World Water Scenarios" was created in 2012 under the new IIASA Water Program. The new flagship project aims to provide a set of robust strategies, policies, technologies, and solution options to inform decision making in the face of growing water scarcity and increasing uncertainty. More



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Last edited: 28 October 2013

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