Forumfed Teams up with Partners to Launch a New Website

Map of rivers in federal countries

Forum of Federations, the Oxford Water Network and Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment team up to launch the website: www.federalrivers.org.
Water is arguably the most valuable resource on our planet and successfully governing life-sustaining rivers is a challenging goal. www.federalrivers.org aims to be the premier authority to provide expertise and comparative analysis for multi-level governments looking to improve and enhance their governance systems of water management.
Over the coming months and years, this site will aim to:
1. Advance our understanding of the factors (institutions, infrastructure and information) influencing cooperation, conflict resolution and capacity to adapt to droughts and water scarcity in federal rivers.
2. Develop case studies in different federal rivers to gather context-specific evidence and transferable lessons.
3. Build a global database using a data architecture and coding process to collect, store and analyse physical, institutional and socioeconomic data. The database is being designed based on the input and needs of decision-makers, drawing on primary data, field research, local expertise and tools for assessing how institutions influence social, economic and environmental outcomes.
4. Engage decision-makers in governments, civil society, business and multi-lateral organisations to inform collective action strategies and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, including the role of sub-national governments and inter-governmental cooperation in SDG 6.5-6.6, and within the framework of the OECD Water Governance Initiative.
“Well over half of the world’s major river basins are within or shared by federations, including the iconic waterways of the Nile, Indus and Great Lakes. Only now do we have a global picture. Federalrivers.org builds on almost a decade of work by 50 experts across 12 of the world’s 25 federal countries; this new online platform will foster knowledge and networks to govern federal rivers under pressure from growth and climate change.” Dr. Dustin Evan Garrick, Oxford Water Network โ€œManagement and sharing of river waters is a fraught public policy issue in many countries. Federal arrangements add a layer of complexity to this, particularly in the context of climate change.
This initiative by the Forum of Federations and the Oxford Water Network will help curate comparative experiences to inform public policy.โ€ Rupak Chattopadhyay, President of Forum of Federations.