New EDGES report: Beck, Rodina, Luker & Harris, Institutional and Policy Mapping of the Water Sector in South Africa
In addition to a complementary report for Ghana, DAAD RISE intern Thessa Beck worked with EDGES to produce an institutional map and report summarizing some of the main water access and governance issues in South Africa, and more specifically the City of Cape Town. The goal of this report is to map out the key policies and […]
New EDGES report: Beck, Harris and Luker, Institutional and Policy Mapping of the Water Sector in Ghana
Recently, DAAD RISE intern Thessa Beck worked with EDGES to produce an institutional map and report summarizing some of the main water access and governance issues in Ghana, and more specifically the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA). The goal of this report is to map out the key policies and institutions that are relevant for understanding […]
New Workshop: Reimaging Household Water Security Research Workshop at Texas A&M University
Sameer Shah recently participated on behalf of the EDGES Research Collaborative in the Reimaging Household Water Security Research Workshop from September 28-30 at Texas A&M University. The workshop focused on engaging with the concept of household water security, as well as for exploring frameworks for collecting, analyzing, and reporting household water security information. The workshop […]
Conference: Accessing Water in Africa, Emerging paradigms between risks, resiliences and new solidarities
EDGES members Dr. Leila Harris and Scott Mckenzie recently participated in a conference held in Paris, France, July 2016: L’Accès à l’Eau en Afrique : vers de nouveaux paradigmes ? Vulnérabilité, Exclusion, Résiliences et Nouvelles Solidarités” (Accessing Water in Africa:emerging paradigms between risks, resiliences and new solidarities”) Involving researchers from all over the world, the conference involved […]
Seminar: L. Harris, ‘Tapping’ into state-society linkages: looking at perceptions of the state through the lens of water access
Dr. Leila Harris recently gave a seminar at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS), where she is currently a Fellow. Dr. Harris presented on her current collaborative project within UBC, with the goal of publishing it as a book. The project is based on ongoing work with students from UBC, and colleagues from other institutions […]
New pub: Harris, Rodina, Luker, Darkwah & Goldin, Water Access in Underserved Areas of Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa: 2012 Survey Report
Harris, L., L. Rodina, E. Luker, A. Darkwah & J. Goldin. (2016). Water Access in underserved areas of Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa. 2012 Survey Report. The University of British Columbia, Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability. Policy Brief Overview: Across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) urban water supply systems face a range of challenges—so much […]
Announcement: Funded Studentships (2016-2018) with the Sustainable Water Governance and Indigenous Law Project
The Sustainable Water Governance and Indigenous Law Project are currently welcoming applications from Masters, PhD students and Post-Doctoral fellows with research interests in any of the following: Sustainable water governance Indigenous law Settler colonialism and resource industries Critical political economy Political ecology Community based research Collaboration with Indigenous communities is a central mandate of the […]
New policy brief: Jollymore, McFarlane & Harris, Whose input counts? Public consultation and the BC Water Sustainability Act
Jollymore, A., K. McFarlane & L. M. Harris. (2016). Whose input counts? Public consultation and the BC Water Sustainability Act. The University of British Columbia, Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability. INTRODUCTION: Public consultation has become an increasingly important feature of policy-making, intended to enhance democratic engagement by enabling citizens to influence plans and policies that […]
New summary report: International WaTERS Network, Workshop on Water Equity and Resilience in Southern Africa
Luker, E., L. Rodina & L. Harris (2016). Summary Report: Workshop on Water Equity and Resilience in Southern Africa. The International WaTERS Network and The University of British Columbia, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. Workshop Description: The International WaTERS Network (www.international-waters.org), with support of the Peter Wall Institute of Advanced Studies (http://pwias.ubc.ca/), the NEPAD […]
New pub: Dunn, Harris & Bakker, Canadian Drinking Water Policy: Jurisdictional Variation in the Context of Decentralized Water Governance
Dunn, G., L. Harris & K. Bakker. (in press). Canadian Drinking Water Policy: Jurisdictional Variation in the Context of Decentralized Water Governance. In: S. Renzetti & D. P. Dupont (Eds) Water Policy and Governance in Canada. Springer International Publishing. Abstract This chapter reviews Canada’s approach to drinking water governance, focusing on the regulations, policies, practices and […]
New policy brief: Morinville and Harris, Participatory urban water governance in Ghana
Morinville, C & L. Harris (2016) Policy brief: Analyzing participatory urban water governance in Accra, Ghana. The University of British Columbia, Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability. See full text HERE.
Photo exhibition by Graham McDowell
Graham McDowell, an environmental change researcher and EDGES member, recently opened a photo exhibition at the Liu Institute lobby gallery at The University of British Columbia. The official opening of the exhibition happened on Monday September 12. It will run until the end of November. Description: High places––mountains and the Arctic––are home to some of the planet’s most […]
New Pub: Harris,Theorizing gender, ethnic difference, and inequality in relation to water access and politics in southeastern Turkey
Harris, L. (in press) Theorizing gender, ethnic difference, and inequality in relation to water access and politics in southeastern Turkey. In: C. Ashcraft and T. Mayer (Eds) The Politics of Freshwater: Access, Conflict and Identity. Routledge, Earthscan. Abstract: This chapter makes two assertions. First, one cannot assess, and fully understand the politics of fresh water without attention to inequality, notably […]
Article by Noal Amir on exploring Afghan identity through her grandfather’s pictures
Check out this beautiful post by Noal Amir on exploring Afghan identities through photos of her grandfather. Noah’s grandfather grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan. He passed her a rich collections of photographs from the 1950s, 60s and 70s Afghanistan. Read the full piece HERE. Noal is a Master of Arts student at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality […]
Congratulations to Graham McDowell!
EDGES member Graham McDowell is a recent receiver of the prestigious Vanier Doctoral Award. See full press release HERE. In his PhD, Graham focuses on vulnerability, adaptation, and transformation with a particular emphasis on governance strategies that promote human well-being and ecological resilience in the context of a changing cryosphere. You can learn more about his […]
Op-ed on Urban Water Resilience by Lucy Rodina and Leila Harris
Lucy Rodina and Leila Harris recently published an opinion piece in The Conversation Africa showcasing ongoing doctoral research in Cape Town South Africa. The piece focuses on what resilience might mean in an African urban context, where high levels of poverty, inequality and mounting climate change impacts are posing numerous challenges. See the full piece HERE. […]
Congratulations to Cynthia Morinville!
EDGES alumna Cynthia Morinville was recently awarded the prestigious Trudeau Fellowship. Cynthia joins Andrea Marston, also a former EDGES member, as a Trudeau Scholar. Cynthia did her Master’s degree at IRES under the supervision of Leila Harris on water access and governance in peri-urban areas in Accra, Ghana. See our publications page to find Cynthia’s published work. Cynthia is currently […]
New Pub: Rodina and Harris, Water Services, Lived Citizenship, and Notions of the State in Marginalised Urban Spaces
Rodina, L & L. M. Harris (2016). Water Services, Lived Citizenship, and Notions of the State in Marginalised Urban Spaces: The case of Khayelitsha, South Africa. Water Alternatives 9(2): 336-355. **Part of Special Issue: Water, infrastructure and political rule. Guest Editors: Christine Bichsel, Peter Mollinga, Timothy Moss, Julia Obertreis Abstract: In this paper we argue that in South Africa […]
New op-ed by Sameer Shah and Karen Kun in Water Canada
Sameer Shah and Karen Kun, Executive Director and Co-founder of Waterlution, published an opinion piece in Water Canada‘s May/June print edition. The piece describes Waterlution’ WaterCity 2040 project – the first Canada-wide exercise in scenario planning that built collaborative spaces to enable the public to explore what could happen to Canada’s water infrastructure, environments, and relationships with water by 2040. […]
New Pub: Simms et. al., Navigating the tensions in collaborative watershed governance
Simms, R., Harris, L. M., Joe, N., & Bakker, K. (2016). Navigating the tensions in collaborative watershed governance: Water governance and Indigenous communities in British Columbia, Canada. Geoforum, 73: 6–16. Abstract: First Nations in British Columbia (BC), Canada, have historically been—and largely continue to be—excluded from colonial governments’ decision-making and management frameworks for fresh water. However, in light […]
EVENT: The Socially Responsible University, May 16, 3:30 pm
On May 16, just after the Community Based Research and Water event, Crystal Tremblay , Budd Hall, Vanessa Andreotti and Mark Edwards are hosting The Socially Responsible University How can the 21st century university best contribute to the public good, and make a meaningful impact in addressing global challenges? What relationships should the university strive to build, and what […]
EVENT: Community Based Research and Water – May 16
The Institute of Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES–UBC), the Program on Water Governance (UBC) and the UNESCO Chair on Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education (UVic) are pleased to invite you to the workshop Community Based Research and Water on May 16 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Peter Wall […]
New Pub: Rodina, Human right to water in Khayelitsha, South Africa
Rodina, L. (2016). Human right to water in Khayelitsha, South Africa – Lessons from a ‘lived experiences’ perspective. Geoforum 72: 58-66. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.04.003 Abstract: This paper investigates the implementation of the human right to water through water services provision in an impoverished urban area in Khayelitsha, South Africa, through the lens of lived experiences of water access. Narratives of experiences with communal and in-house water services reveal […]
Sameer Shah receives multiple awards!
Sameer was recently awarded the Freda Pagani Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award in IRES, the SSHRC Doctoral Canada Graduate Scholarship, and was selected for the Governor General’s Gold Medal Award as the only awardee at the Master’s level for all of UBC. He also received the Faculty of Science Graduate Prize ($500), recognizing his outstanding Master’s thesis. Congratulations! During his Master’s, Sameer […]
Congratulations to Phil Torio, PhD!
Join us in congratulating EDGES member Phil Torio for the successful completion of the PhD program at IRES! During his doctoral work under the supervision of Dr. Leila Harris, Phil looked at how the water privatization in Manilla has affected the lives of the urban poor, how they have managed to cope with the effects of privatization, and how […]
EVENT: Guest Lecture by Lucy Rodina at ACDI, Cape Town, May 5
Lucy Rodina is currently in Cape Town, South Africa, for her fieldwork research from April to September 2016. In Cape Town Lucy is visiting the African Climate and Development Initiative, where she will be working in collaboration with Gina Ziervogel and colleagues. Lucy is giving a guest lecture as part of the ACDI brown bag lunch […]
Participatory Videos from Collaborative Work in Accra and Cape Town Are Now Online
In 2014 and 2015, post-doctoral fellow and EDGES member Crystal Tremblay conducted participatory video workshops and community-based research in Site C, Khayelitsha, Cape Town, co-facilitated by Iliso Care Society and the Environmental Monitoring Group. Similar work in Teshie, Accra was done collaboratively with ISODEC and the local assembly (LEKMA), as well as other community partners and civil society organizations. […]
EVENT: Faculty Lecture by Leila Harris at IRES, Apr 7
On Apr 7, Leila Harris will be giving a talk at IRES seminar series, from 12:30 to 1:30 in the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Lab Building, room 120. Her talk is titled “Assessing States, Differentiating Citizens: Perspectives on water services and evolving state-society relations in Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa”. The lecture is available online […]
Noal Amir and participatory filmmaking in West Africa
EDGES member Noal Amir has been working on several projects related to gorillas, including a participatory filmmaking project in West Africa. Her work was recently recognized in the publication of this article on Gorilla Folk filmmaking in the Cross River headwaters. The film on which this article is based was awarded with the Jean Roch award. Congrats to Noal and her […]
New Pub: Harris et al., Intersections of Gender and Water
Harris, L. M., Kleiber, D., Goldin, J., Darkwah, A., and C. Morinville (2016). Intersections of Gender and Water: Comparative approaches to everyday gendered negotiations of water access in underserved areas of Accra, Ghana and Cape Town, South Africa. Journal of Gender Studies. DOI:10.1080/09589236.2016.1150819 Abstract: A large and growing body of literature suggests that women and men often have differentiated […]
New Pub: McDowell et al., Community-level climate change vulnerability research
McDowell, G., Ford. J., Jones. J. (2016) 25 years of community-level climate change vulnerability research: Trends, progress, and future directions. Environmental Research Letters. 11:033001 Abstract: This study systematically identifies, characterizes, and critically evaluates community-level climate change vulnerability assessments published over the last 25 years (n = 274). We find that while the field has advanced considerably […]
EVENT: Sameer Co-hosts “Creating Resilient Water Systems” Workshop
Sameer co-hosted the Canadian Water Network‘s workshop Creating Resilient Water Systems on February 24, 2016, at the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. The workshop – with presentations on decentralized water governance for enhancing community-wide ecosystem services, water metering and pricing, and engineering resilience – focused on building resilience at multiple scales of water […]
EVENT: UBC Centennial Water Workshop, March 8-10, 2016
As part of its Centennial celebration, UBC will host a series of Emerging Research Workshops, including a session on Water Ways: Understanding the Past, Navigating the Future, which will take place on March 8, 9 and 10th, 2016. This workshop is intended to bring together leading water experts from UBC and the global academe to share knowledge and […]
EVENT: Guest Lecture by Julian S. Yates, Feb 4 at IRES
On Feb 4 Julian S. Yates will be giving a talk about his doctoral research at the IRES seminar series, from 12:30 to 1:30 in the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Lab Building at UBC. His talk is titled “Between metaphor and practice: environmental governance and the decolonial option in the Peruvian Andes”. Abstract: In this presentation I engage with […]
New Pubs by Scott McKenzie
McKenzie, S. (2016) Review: Improving International Investment Agreements by Armand de Mestral (Ed.), Human Rights Review, March, 2016. & Dosas, A., Omstedt, M., Olmsted, P., Iaci, N., Zare S., McKenzie S.,(2016) “Inequality Explained: 7 ways climate change and inequality are connected”, OpenCanada.org, January 14, 2016. Abstract: The potential for droughts, floods, migration and conflict resulting from climate change arewell-publicized. Certain […]
EVENT: Nicole Wilson giving a talk at IRES, Jan 14th
On Jan 14 Nicole Wilson is giving a talk about her doctoral research at the IRES seminar series, from 12:30 to 1:30 in AERL. Her talk is titled ““More precious than gold”: Yukon First Nations and water governance in the context of modern land claims agreements”. Abstract: Water governance is of critical concern to Yukon First Nations, […]