This paper served as a background paper to the European Report on Development 2011/2012: Confronting scarcity: Managing water, energy and land for inclusive and sustainable growth. The European Report on Development was prepared by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in partnership with the...

Water resource management is poorly understood and defined since the characteristics of water resources and their use are locally specific and differ widely from place to place. Beyond that, water as a renewable natural resource does not fall into conventional analytical paradigms. It is an...

This report considers whether and how different approaches to the development, management and use of water resources might contribute to regional integration in Southern Africa and concludes that water does not make an important direct contribution. Its political symbolism may have an important...

This South African Academy of Engineers lecture addresses the importance of technical experts who are embedded in a society. Engineers and engineering, as well as the wider community of technical professionals have a vital role to play in South Africa’s future. But what must engineers do to...

The statistical community will come under increasing pressure from policy makers to help address the technical challenges of generating and translating data into policy useful information to support the implementation of global development goals. In the water sector, a key issue that will...

The history of the Nile in Africa offers useful lessons for civil engineers seeking to build a sustainable future, in which climate change is an existential challenge. For thousands of years, communities along the river have sought greater water security at the interface of technical...

This note presents tools that can help make service providers more accountable to the people they serve. The voice of users is often muted in water utilities. One consequence is that utilities do not take account of users' priorities and preferences. The utility, in turn, loses the trust and...