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The Government of India has put forward a National Water Framework Act arising from part of the work of the national Planning Commission. Philippe Cullet's research on water law and governance has directly impacted upon the nature of India's planned legislation on the issue, facilitated by his chairmanship of a group within India's Planning Commission. This is of great significance in a country where 12% of the 1.2 billion-population lacks access to improved drinking water and where there are major concerns around sustainability of supply.
New characterisation tools for natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water are now used as standard practice within water companies such as Severn Trent Water, United Utilities and Yorkshire Water. The tools inform decisions, and help develop strategic plans on catchment management, source selection, treatment optimisation, and disinfection practice. Water companies experienced difficulties in treating high levels of NOM. Cranfield created a novel characterisation toolkit to measure NOM for its electrical charge and hydrophobicity. Also, new techniques for measuring aggregate properties and emerging disinfection by-products have provided a comprehensive analysis. Two novel treatment technologies are currently marketed. These technologies have raised international interest, resulting in industrial development in Australia.
Diarrhoeal disease is the world's second most common cause of death in children under five years old, killing 760,000 children each year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Microbial contamination of drinking water is one of the most important causes. In England and Wales acute diarrhoeal disease is estimated to cost the country £1.5 billion annually. UEA epidemiologists have shown the important role of water supply systems in spreading diarrhoeal disease in developed and developing countries; led WHO research projects on small scale drinking water systems; and influenced WHO policy on small scale drinking water systems in developed and developing countries. Methodological research on epidemiological methods for monitoring and regulating bathing water quality has led to changes in WHO guidance on bathing water quality standards and influenced US Environmental Protection Agency criteria. Hunter's participation in international expert panels facilitated the impact of this research on policy.
The impact of research by the University of Southampton into global access to safe drinking water has: (i) provided important evidence for new policy initiatives by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF to promote home water treatment to reduce the 1.9 million deaths each year due to water- related infections, and (ii) stimulated debate among a range of stakeholders, including the media, advocacy groups and UN bodies, by challenging the accuracy of the assertion by the UN Secretary General that the UN Millennium Development Goal for safe water access has been met.
The virtual water concept is used to identify and quantify water use which is hidden, or embedded within the production and supply of food and other commodities. Its primary application has been to demonstrate that the majority of water consumed globally is used within the production and trade of food. Introduced and developed by Allan, virtual water research has transformed public and private sector water policy and its metrics in the UK and internationally. Instantiated through conceptual work published in 1993 and 1994 and developed through empirical studies thereafter, virtual water was widely adopted by 2000. The idea is now accepted as an essential element in the framing of policy on water security and its economic systems. Virtual water has been increasingly deployed by advisers to governments, corporations and NGOs, below we provide evidence from the U.S. State department, Coca Cola, WWF and the World Economic Forum, this is by no means a complete list. In 2011 the UK House of Lords and UK government's official response urged the EU Commission to incorporate virtual water in EU Policy. In recognition of the global conceptual impact of virtual water, Tony Allan was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, 2008. In 2013, in recognition of impact made in preceding years through his virtual water concept and research Allan was also awarded the Foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco Water Award and the International Environmentalist Award of the Florence-based Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron.
Limitations in public access to water environments for recreation are a longstanding source of stakeholder conflict in which previous policy initiatives have been ineffective. Our research has demonstrated how recreational access to inland waters can be increased through stakeholder capacity building and partnership working. In England and Wales the research led to changes in policy decisions for access to water, revised planning policy guidance, improved recreational access, the creation of 102 new jobs, and the modification of management practices by private and public bodies. In Europe the research has shaped new approaches for the management of small waterways in 11 countries.
This case study focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict within the context of the Oslo peace process. It documents four areas of impact, the underpinning research and associated engagement and dissemination activity having: (1) [text removed for publication] (2) significantly enhanced public and policy understanding of, and debate on, the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict, within Israel, the Palestinian territories and internationally; (3) [text removed for publication] and (4) contributed to the emergence of influential critiques of international policy on water `cooperation'.
The Lake Naivasha region is a globally-important wildlife sanctuary, international tourism destination and the world's centre for cut flower export. Professor David Harper has led sustained ecological research over a number of years, and this has led to significant impact in terms of helping to resolve massive ecological degradation at Kenya's Lake Naivasha. The research has inspired the creation of a Lake management agency through involvement of HRH Prince of Wales — `Imarisha' — and which incorporated Leicester's recommendations into its Sustainable Development Action Plan (2012-17), in turn underpinning increasing sales of Fair Trade products and ensuring the sustainability of Naivasha's ecosystem services for future generations.
This case study explores the impact of a University of Cambridge theoretically-informed programme on how the human body is understood in different historical settings. The major way the non-academic public encountered this research was through an exhibition `Assembling Bodies' at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, seen by over 100,000 people. Visitor documentation and external reviews show that this exhibition successfully provoked its viewers to think in new ways about human bodies, including their own. It has also inspired new creative initiatives in art and writing.
This study analysed the shallow well drinking water quality of 17,000 rural Malawians. Water officials were advised interim precautions to take regarding grossly contaminated wells. Inter alia, the `Water Resources Investment Strategy', World Bank funded, captured this data to help develop policy. A new MSc course was established to educate water officials. Workshops/Fieldtrips integrated this research into the undergraduate curriculum. An indigenous sustainable natural water purification system was developed to reduce contaminates at source. Initial data indicates that water quality can be improved by up to 80%. This has the potential to improve the water quality for 1.5 million Malawians.