Research and knowledge production

Publications

Gender dynamics in transboundary water governance. Feminist perspectives on water conflict and cooperation

The volume “Gender dynamics in transboundary water governance. Feminist perspectives on water conflict and cooperation” edited by Jenniver Sehring, Margreet Zwarteveen, Rozemarijn ter Horst was published by Routledge in 2022. This volume assesses the nexus of gender and transboundary water governance, containing empirical case studies, discourse analyses, practitioners’ accounts, and theoretical reflections. This volume brings together contributors from IHE and partners and is available as open access

This blog summarizes the main insights of the book.

Diving into Water Diplomacy - Exploring the Emergence of a Concept

This article authored by Jenniver Sehring, Susanne Schmeier, Rozemarijn ter Horst, Alyssa Offutt, and Bota Sharipova reviews the discourse on water diplomacy and proposes a comprehensive definition to inform further research. It was published in Diplomatica 2(4) and is available as open access.

Master thesis research

The DUPC2 Water Diplomacy project has supported young researchers to do fieldwork for a master thesis related to water cooperation and diplomacy. These include:

Azza Nabil Babiker Abdelhafiez: Unpacking Sudan’s national decision-making processes on transboundary waters
Iara Bueno Giacomini: Institutionalising cascade dam cooperation in the Tekeze-Atbara sub-basin
Rachana Mattur: Understanding Women’s Participation in the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine through Gendered Substructures
Simon Ryfisch: Making Space for Indigenous Values in the Governance of Protected Areas
Lucia Garcia Lopez: Evaluating the role of participatory modelling in intractable water conflict

Students below with outstanding master theses were supported to transform their theses into manuscripts to be published in scientific journals:

Anand Datla: Voices from the Delta – Local Communities in the Governance of the Okavango Delta
Zoe Rosenblum: Preventing future conflict? Building a database of transboundary wetlands
Sharoma Ramawadh: Spirituality in Water Diplomacy

Transboundary Freshwater Disputes Database

With support from DUPC2, IHE Delft collaborates with Oregon State University to update and improve the existing Transboundary Freshwater Disputes Database (TFDD). It includes a searchable database of over 600 international, freshwater-related agreements, it documents historical international water relations from 1948 to 2008, and includes data on all currently known international river basin organizations. These datasets are used by researchers, policy analysts and students contributing to a better understanding of conflict dynamics in transboundary river basins. This activity is linked to the Universities Partnership for Water Cooperation and Diplomacy (UPWCD).

Study on Women’s Participation in decision-making processes over shared waters

A joint study with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) aims to better understand high-level decision-making processes on transboundary waters from a gendered perspective in order to know (1) if and how gender impacts decision-making; (2) how women’s participation in decision-making affect for water cooperation and conflict prevention; and (3) how to effectively strengthen inclusive high-level decision-making. First results were already presented at various seminars and conferences, including at the cross-regional workshop on ‘(En)Gendering Transboundary Water Governance: Feminist Perspectives on Water Conflict and Cooperation’ that was organized under this project.

The series of blogs with the results of the study were published on the water governance blog of IHE Delft - .