Call for papers: The Effectiveness and Reform of Water Resource Research and Management

A special issue of International Journal of Water

Water resources around the world are under profound stress. Chronic water shortages and profound environmental despoliation appear to becoming worse, despite extraordinary public expenditures to rectify matters. The scale of national spending on research and programs to better understand the ecology and hydrology of the stressed water systems has been huge as has been the effort to improve the technical efficiency of existing use. International cooperation and expenditure on these perspectives has also been consequential.

Unfortunately, in the setting of such circumstances as rapid urbanization and industrialization as well as climate change, it appears to be the case that the traditional approaches of research and management are not working.

The first part of the Special issue will be focused on testing the proposition that the general current approaches of water resources research and management are not working, while the second part will be directed to improving the current approach if that is seen to be desirable and possible, or alternatively to articulating approaches which might actually achieve an improvement in water resource management.

Given the diverse range of questions and perspectives on both Issues, it is anticipated that the skills of a range of disciplines will be relevant here and contributions are canvassed widely without any disciplinary preconceptions. Generally, a priority will be given to work with a theoretical or methodological focus rather than to general case studies.

Part A. Special Issue on: Why Isn’t Water Research and Management Working?
The topics here could be broad and open ended, and potential contributors are asked to take the initiative with their analysis. The scope of contribution could be wide ranging from issues of defining the problems, appropriate research methodology, secondary research agendas, organizational priorities or political imperatives amongst others.

Part B. Special Issue on New Alternatives for Water Management and Research
Again the scope and topic range could be quite wide, with the reasonable expectation that any new alternatives should be methodologically coherent and amenable to general application both nationally and internationally.

Important Dates
Deadline for submission of proposals/abstracts or prospective papers: 1 October, 2010
Deadline for submission of completed papers: 28 February, 2011