UWaterloo Named Lead Contact in Canada-China Water Management Co-operation Agreement

Monday, November 16, 2015

Researchers from U Waterloo and China.
The Government of Canada and People’s Republic of China named the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo as the lead contact on a new co-operation agreement for water management. The two countries will collaborate on a number of projects aimed at improving management of this vital resource as China’s rapid economic development has dramatically increased the likelihood of water shortages in that country. 
This initiative is an important component of Canada’s on-going bilateral cooperation with China under the Joint Committee on Environmental Cooperation (JCEC). 

"More than 140 experts from all six Faculties at Waterloo take part in world-changing, interdisciplinary research at the Water Institute," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of Waterloo. "The institute receives international recognition for its innovative approach to the management of this resource that is of universal and critical importance for people and environments. It is a prime example of ways in which researchers at the University of Waterloo are addressing the global problems of the future." 

A delegation of 10 researchers from the Water Institute recently participated in the first Sino-Canadian Water Environment Workshop in Hangzhou with officials from Environment Canada and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences. Under the agreement, the Water Institute will be working with the Academy to facilitate scientific exchanges of researchers and students, as well as identifying joint research projects in China. 

“China has a great variety of large, complex and urgent water-related challenges, and the Water Institute looks forward to working with our Chinese counterparts to help build the scientific capacity necessary to address these challenges and to identify research projects in China that are of mutual interest," said Robert Gillham, distinguished professor emeritus and executive director of the Water Institute at Waterloo. 

It is the goal of the Water Institute to be a global leader that substantially advances the sustainable use and management of water for the benefit of the environment, economy and society. In April 2013, Lux Research Inc. ranked the University of Waterloo as the tenth-best water research institution in the world.