Cecilia Tortajada
Dr Cecilia Tortajada is currently Professor in Practice of Environmental Innovation, at the School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, UK, and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
She has 25 years of research, teaching, and consulting experience in water, environment, and natural resources management within the framework of sustainable development. Her current research includes the impacts of global change on water, food, the environment, and societies. In 2024, she received an honorary Doctor of Science in Technology degree from Aalto University, Finland, for her important contributions to water and development research and education. She is the recipient of the Crystal Drop Award in 2016 and the 50th Anniversary Award in 2021 of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA). She is a member of the International Selection Committee of the Millennium Technology Prize awarded by Technology Academy Finland; the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Peer Review College, UK; the OECD Initiative on Water Governance; and the International Steering Committee of the Asia International Water Week.
Prof Tortajada is the Past President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and the first and only woman President of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) in its over 50 years of history. As a prolific author, her work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish languages.
She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Water Resources Development and Associate Editor of River Journal. She is a member of the Editorial Board of npj Clean Water; Water Resources Management; Water International; International Journal of Water Governance; Urban, Planning and Transport Research journal; and Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research. She is the Co-editor of the Water Resources Development and Management and SpringerBriefs on Case Studies of Sustainable Development book series Springer. She is a member of the Series Advisory Board, SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences, Geography & Earth System Sciences.
She has 25 years of research, teaching, and consulting experience in water, environment, and natural resources management within the framework of sustainable development. Her current research includes the impacts of global change on water, food, the environment, and societies. In 2024, she received an honorary Doctor of Science in Technology degree from Aalto University, Finland, for her important contributions to water and development research and education. She is the recipient of the Crystal Drop Award in 2016 and the 50th Anniversary Award in 2021 of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA). She is a member of the International Selection Committee of the Millennium Technology Prize awarded by Technology Academy Finland; the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Peer Review College, UK; the OECD Initiative on Water Governance; and the International Steering Committee of the Asia International Water Week.
Prof Tortajada is the Past President of the Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico, and the first and only woman President of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) in its over 50 years of history. As a prolific author, her work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish languages.
She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Water Resources Development and Associate Editor of River Journal. She is a member of the Editorial Board of npj Clean Water; Water Resources Management; Water International; International Journal of Water Governance; Urban, Planning and Transport Research journal; and Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research. She is the Co-editor of the Water Resources Development and Management and SpringerBriefs on Case Studies of Sustainable Development book series Springer. She is a member of the Series Advisory Board, SpringerBriefs in Earth Sciences, Geography & Earth System Sciences.
less
InterestsView All (7)
Uploads
Papers by Cecilia Tortajada
What was missing during the discussion was the simple fact that any major infrastructure project like large dams will always have positive and negative impacts. What was, and still is, needed, is an objective assessment of all the benefits and costs of any such large infrastructures, and to see how the benefits can be maximized and the costs be minimized, so that the net benefits to the society are maximized.
Increasing access to clean water and sanitation are among the 17 SDGs. During normal times, and even more during the present pandemic, access to clean water and proper sanitation is essential.
But we must now rethink how we achieve the goals laid out in the SDGs. First, we should stop looking at access to safe water as the problem of developing countries alone – it is a global problem that worsens under extreme conditions like the current pandemic.
What was missing during the discussion was the simple fact that any major infrastructure project like large dams will always have positive and negative impacts. What was, and still is, needed, is an objective assessment of all the benefits and costs of any such large infrastructures, and to see how the benefits can be maximized and the costs be minimized, so that the net benefits to the society are maximized.
Increasing access to clean water and sanitation are among the 17 SDGs. During normal times, and even more during the present pandemic, access to clean water and proper sanitation is essential.
But we must now rethink how we achieve the goals laid out in the SDGs. First, we should stop looking at access to safe water as the problem of developing countries alone – it is a global problem that worsens under extreme conditions like the current pandemic.
In 2009, Li Guoying, then with the Chinese Yellow River Conservancy Commission and now China’s Minister of Water Resources, proposed that rivers should be viewed as vital beings so that society recognized the initiative, teleonomy, and creativeness of rivers, which means rivers also have inherent value (s) and are subject of rights.
At the second United Nations Water Conference in New York in March 2023, Li proposed four important initiatives, including the need to respect the rights of rivers in nature, regard rivers as life forms, construct river ethics, maintain the healthy life of rivers and realize the harmonious coexistence of people and rivers.
And at the World Water Forum, in Bali, Indonesia, in May 2024, he said there is a need to develop a community of good practices on river ethics across the world.
The first question for people like us who are interested in solution-oriented or problem-solving scholarship is, what are the different discourses or knowledge tropes currently used by policymakers and people who can influence policy to make sense of problem situations in this region? For the sake of focus for this article, this article attempts to delineate knowledge bases influencing such discourses around disasters and development in the Brahmaputra Valley of NER.
The prognosis for the future is getting worse. On May 17, the WMO said there is a 66 percent probability that the world will cross the 1.5 C threshold set by the Paris Agreement for at least one year in the next five years. Only a year ago, this probability was estimated at 48 percent.
The WMO is now virtually certain (98 percent probability) the next five years will see the hottest year in history, and there is a 93 percent chance that average the five-year temperature of 2022-26 will be higher than in 2017-21. These facts show how the situation is becoming grimmer.
In this book, leading international specialists and experts from diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and expertise analyse the current status and future application potential of the sustainable development paradigm to the water sector in terms of improving existing processes and practices.
In this book, leading international specialists and experts from diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and expertise analyse the current status and future application potential of the sustainable development paradigm to the water sector in terms of improving existing processes and practices.
In this book, leading international specialists and experts from diverse disciplines, backgrounds, and expertise analyse the current status and future application potential of the sustainable development paradigm to the water sector in terms of improving existing processes and practices.
Examining various contexts in Latin America, the essays that comprise this book analyse the roles that women play, both as end users and as facilitators of efficient and integrated water management, to improve the quality of life and simultaneously protect the environment. The experiences of senior decisionmakers and professionals from various countries find place here, specifically in terms of macro policy and management issues.
The lessons to be learnt from the Latin American experience are of special value within the developing world as a whole. This volume will therefore interest all who work on development and water-related issues.
Examining various contexts in Latin America, the essays that comprise this book analyse the roles that women play, both as end users and as facilitators of efficient and integrated water management, to improve the quality of life and simultaneously protect the environment. The experiences of senior decisionmakers and professionals from various countries find place here, specifically in terms of macro policy and management issues.
The lessons to be learnt from the Latin American experience are of special value within the developing world as a whole. This volume will therefore interest all who work on development and water-related issues.
Examining various contexts in Latin America, the essays that comprise this book analyse the roles that women play, both as end users and as facilitators of efficient and integrated water management, to improve the quality of life and simultaneously protect the environment. The experiences of senior decisionmakers and professionals from various countries find place here, specifically in terms of macro policy and management issues.
The lessons to be learnt from the Latin American experience are of special value within the developing world as a whole. This volume will therefore interest all who work on development and water-related issues.