Research Program
Our research program focuses primarily on water governance – the processes through which societies make decisions that affect water.
We study governance in contexts such as drinking water source protection, transboundary water management, water allocation and climate change adaptation. Water security is an important cross-cutting theme in our program.
Major scientific and technical challenges exist in these areas. However, we believe that progress – or lack thereof – in tackling these concerns requires addressing governance challenges relating to legitimacy and accountability, weak institutions, and shortfalls in capacity. Our research aims to make significant, original contributions to knowledge in relation to key water and environmental governance challenges in Canada and around the world.
A shared goal of team members is to use research to contribute practical, relevant solutions to governance challenges in real-world settings. As a result, partnerships with policy makers, practitioners and others involved in water governance are an important characteristic of our work.
Current Projects
Climate Change Impacts and Implications for Niagara. Funded by Niagara Region (Ryan Plummer, Principal Investigator) - 2011-
Creating a Next Generation Policy Delphi. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2011-2013
Assessing the Outcomes of Collaborative Water Governance: A Canadian Perspective. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2011-2014
Improving Water Governance Through Policy Transfer and Lesson Learning. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2009-2012
First Nations and Source Waters: Understanding Vulnerabilities and Building Capacity for Environmental Governance. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Ryan Plummer, Principal Investigator) - 2009-2012
Governance for Watershed-Based Source Water Protection in Canada: A National Assessment. Funded by the Canadian Water Network (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2008-2012
Additional information about selected current projects is available here: www.governanceforwater.ca
Selected Completed Projects
Source Water Protection in Ontario. Funded by the Canadian Water Network (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2007-2009
Transferring Water Allocation Institutions: Insights from Canada and Australia. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2006-2009
Water Allocation and Water Security: A Canadian Assessment. Funded by the The Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2005-2007
Enhancing Water Security in Canada. Funded by the Canadian Water Network (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2005-2007
Designing for Resiliency and Self-Reliance: An Evaluation of Options for Responding to Agricultural Drought in Canada. Funded by the Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Program (John Smithers, Principal Investigator) - 2004-2007
Institutional Arrangements and Capacity for Adaptation to Climate Change at the Watershed Scale. Funded by the Climate Change Action Fund (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2002-2003
Building Local Capacity to Provide Clean Water. Funded by the Canadian Water Network (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2001-2005
Water Allocation: A Comparative Assessment. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Rob de Loë, Principal Investigator) - 2001 - 2004
