Events

The Hub originally planned three policy workshops in Australia and Europe, aiming to bring together policy-engaged researchers to discuss water challenges, reflect on innovation as a research topic, and draw out implications for innovative evidence-based research and practices, bringing together cross-continental water policy experiences.

The Hub ultimately held six events - interrupted by the pandemic and including one virtual event:

Committing to the unknown: panel discussion on investment in novel irrigation infrastructure

5 February 2020 at the Australian National University

The first workshop tackled the topic of investment in irrigation infrastructure under high uncertainty, focussing on managed aquifer as an example. A panel discussion brought together speakers from the irrigation sector, state and Federal government, and researchers from Australia and the Netherlands. Held under the Chatham house rule, the event provided a safe space to make progress on managed aquifer recharge policy specifically, and to explore new ways of fostering dialogue about uncertain water innovations.

• Conference program[JG1]

Mini-Symposium - Putting lessons into practice: reflecting on water management in the face of fire

10 March 2020 at the Australian National University

The second workshop was held at the time of the Black Summer fires in Australia. Disasters of this kind can often be catalysts for change, and the hub therefore convened a transdisciplinary mini-symposium to bring together perspectives on the relationship between water management and fire. Speakers included representatives from the USA, Europe, water supply companies and governments, and a mix of water, fire, policy, and social science researcher, providing an unprecedented opportunity for networking and exchange of innovative water policy ideas across sectors and disciplines. The mini-symposium was co-organised with the Institute for Water Futures, the Disaster Risk Science Institute, the Bushfire & Natural Hazards CRC and eWater.

• Event description[JG2]

Workshop - Perspectives on Innovation: What does it mean to be innovative in water policy-making and what is involved?

11 March 2020 at the Australian National University

The third workshop explored the idea of innovation in the 21st century as it appears and is understood in water policymaking within different contexts. An interdisciplinary and cross-sector group from Europe, the USA, government, research and the private sector participated in discussions defining what policy innovation meant to them, identifying opportunities for innovation, and digging into a set of case studies of innovation. The discussions aimed to contrast perspectives and enable participants to understand how others view water policy innovation.

• Workshop program[JG3]

Online workshop – Water Policy Innovation

24 June 2020 online

Due to Covid-19, the last events in Europe were unfortunately delayed. In the meantime, an online workshop was held between European and Australian participants providing an opportunity to exchange views on the topic of water policy innovation and identify common interests ahead of later workshops. The workshop reported on previous events and future plans, with a particular focus on the relationship between innovation and stakeholder participation and transitioning between policy regimes.

Policy innovation and unintended consequences in water, agriculture, and the environment

1 July 2022 at L'Institut Agro Montpellier, France

Capitalising on opening of borders, the fifth workshop was held in France in 2022, with an emphasis on rekindling international links in areas of common interest. Building on workshops 3 and 4, a set of panel discussions tackled the question of responsible innovation and unintended consequences of innovations from multiple perspectives, feeding into discussions around possible joint publications and projects. The workshop was generously co-hosted by ICIREWARD, the International Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Water Systems Dynamics.

• Workshop report[JG4]

Model management, model governance and modelling of modelling for water policy and beyond

8 July 2022 at Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

The sixth workshop was held in Belgium, bringing together participants from universities and government agencies from Europe, USA and Australia interested in the role of modelling in regulatory contexts. Computational modelling increasingly plays an indispensable role in water policy, and the workshop provided an opportunity to explore opportunities to coordinate research and development efforts on the issues that arise in adoption and institutionalisation of modelling as an innovation in water policy. The workshop led to development of a special issue on “Socio-environmental systems modeling in regulatory contexts” for the journal Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling with guest editors and authors from multiple continents.

• Workshop report[JG5]

Academic papers

The Hub originally planned one academic paper.

The Hub ultimately produced four papers, including one invited commentary and one editorial.

• Meinard et al. (2021) What is Policy Analytics? An Exploration of 5 Years of Environmental Management Applications, Environmental Management, doi: 10.1007/s00267-020-01408-z
• Nabavi (2022) Who Speaks for Water in Times of Crisis? A Case for Co-production of Engineering and Governance, Frontiers in Communication, doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2022.810266
• Kosow et al. (2022) Scenarios of water extremes: Framing ways forward for wicked problems, Hydrological Processes, doi: 10.1002/hyp.14492
• Daniell K (2021) La Niña and the platypus: stories of Australasian water relationships, Australasian Journal of Water Resources doi: 10.1080/13241583.2021.2010392

Policy paper

As planned, the Hub produced one policy note on Water Policy Innovation:

• Policy note[JG6]