NSERC International Opportunities Fund

International Opportunities Fund – G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Research Funding (FRESHWATER SECURITY)

This International Opportunities Fund is aimed at supporting excellent research on topics of global relevance best tackled through a multinational approach, recognizing that global challenges need global solutions. Funding should support researchers to cooperate in consortia consisting of partners from at least three of the participating countries and must bring together natural scientists, social scientists and research users (policy makers, regulators, non-governmental organizations [NGOs], communities and industry). Where appropriate, some partner organizations could also support capacity building in developing countries.

Theme 1: Freshwater Security

1. Identification and characterization of the interactions between natural processes (physical and biological, including ecological processes) and human (including cultural, social, economic, technological, abstraction, transfer and water re-use) practices that govern water budgeting in selected regions. This will include establishing how these drivers vary over wide-ranging temporal and spatial scales (including extreme events and global scales), their impacts, and determining which are most important in governing the vulnerability of socio-economic and environmental systems to water extremes.

2. Development of approaches that support the evolution of resilient communities/regions through improved seasonal (months to multi-year) forecasting of droughts, taking into account natural (hydro-meteorological) and socio-economic drivers identified in the above work package. Research should clearly couple the complex system science of water stress at multiple-scales to the structure and protocols for decision making. Development of these approaches is expected to involve both model-based and place-based research that makes use of existing observations and existing modelling approaches, and where possible identifies key missing local observations. It will explore utilization of forecast advice, and will consider determining how individuals, communities, businesses and governments alter, or not, their habits and practices on the basis of improved forecasts.