Date
Abstract
Strongly influenced by climate change, global water-policy discourse has shifted from stressing optimal allocation and use of water resources to managing risks and unpredictability in the water sector. This ongoing project examines how water-sector experts construct an understanding of and interpret water-climate risks; how those understandings are embedded in the analytic tools used to make decisions around water infrastructure; and the resulting distributive consequences for people and communities exposed to climate/water risks. It asks: whose risks get managed? Three specific domains of water infrastructure, and the expert networks around them, serve as focal points: (1) water-aid programs to rural areas of the developing world for water/sanitation and small-scale productive water uses; (2) urban water infrastructure for drinking water/wastewater/stormwater management and disaster risk reduction; and (3) large dams and other water-storage projects. Empirical components in each case include key informant interviews, analysis of relevant decision tools addressing climate resilience, and place-based case studies.
Presenters
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Ken Conca
Visiting Scholar in Residence
Dr. Ken Conca is a Professor of International Relations in the School of International Service at American University. His research focuses on environment, conflict, and peacebuilding; water politics and governance; and the role of the United Nations (UN) in environmental governance. Ken’s work has been recognized with several major awards, including the Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas Improving World Order, the Al-Moumin Award for thought leadership in environmental peacebuilding, the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for best book on international environmental affairs, and the Chadwick Alger...
Image
Ken Conca
Visiting Scholar in Residence
Dr. Ken Conca is a Professor of International Relations in the School of International Service at American University. His research focuses on environment, conflict, and peacebuilding; water politics and governance; and the role of the United Nations (UN) in environmental governance. Ken’s work has been recognized with several major awards, including the Grawemeyer Prize for Ideas Improving World Order, the Al-Moumin Award for thought leadership in environmental peacebuilding, the Harold and Margaret Sprout Award for best book on international environmental affairs, and the Chadwick Alger Prize for best book in the field of International Organization. He is a member of the UN Environment Programme’s Expert Advisory Group on Environment, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, and he served previously on the Scientific Steering Committee on Global Environmental Change and Human Security for the International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change. His most recent books are An Unfinished Foundation: The United Nations and Global Environmental Governance and The Oxford Handbook of Water Politics and Policy (both with Oxford University Press). Ken earned his PhD from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley.
External Links:
https://www.american.edu/sis/faculty/conca.cfm
Presenters
Time
11:00 a.m. ET
Location
SESYNC – 1 Park Place, Suite 300 Annapolis, MD 21401
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