• Water Governance

Building knowledge on water governance

The global water crisis is a crisis of governance. Starting from this premise, researchers at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) analyse water governance problems within multiple political contexts to understand conditions for equitable and ecologically sustainable water access, use, and management, keeping a particular eye on the role of development cooperation.

 

Water research at IDOS spans various scales, from global and international dimensions to national and local dynamics, for example surrounding the implementation of policy instruments (such as Payments for Ecosystem Services and Nature-based Solutions, governance paradigms (such as Integrated Water Resources Management and the Water-Energy-Food-nexus) and international agreements (such as the 2030 Agenda), but also local political economies of water. Our work investigates the allocation and sharing of benefits and costs from water use, the recognition of use rights, and institutional arrangements that support coordination across sectors and governance levels and that mitigate trade-offs.

 

We collaborate closely with partner organizations in multiple countries and are engaged in international networks and local initiatives, such as the Bonn Water Network. In addition, we provide policy advice to the German government, e.g. through reports or by commenting on strategy papers and guidelines.

Team

Publications

Projects

Events

Highlight

[Translate to English:] Logo: Bonn Water Network, Launch event: Bonn Water Network Connecting competences for sustainable water futures Online, 17.11.2020

Bonn Water Network

 

Bonn Water Network

Our Regional Expertise

Map of the world with current and past research projects

In the media

Logo: Deutsche Welle, L'eau, une denrée de plus en plus rare qu'il faut préserver

„Il faudrait lutter contre les pertes“
Interview with Annabelle Houdret
dw.com, 22 March 2023

Highlight

Cover: Sustainability Science

Unravelling hidden factors explaining competition for and overuse of groundwater in Azraq, Jordan: Digging deeper into a network of action situations
Oberhauser, Daniel / Ramona Hägele / Ines Dombrowsky (2022)
in: Sustainability Science, first published 07.04.2022

Highlight

[Translate to English:] Cover: World Development, Contested water- and miningscapes: explaining the high intensity of water and mining conflicts in a meta-study Schoderer, Mirja / Marlen Ott (2022) in:World Development (154) , article 105888

Contested water- and miningscapes: explaining the high intensity of water and mining conflicts in a meta-study
Schoderer, Mirja / Marlen Ott (2022)
in: World Development (154), article 105888