Vision
The vision of the Faculty of Applied Sciences' Pacific Water Research Centre (PWRC) is to promote and mobilize research that addresses water issues on multiple scales ranging from local communities to national to global.
In pursuit of this vision, PWRC connects critical findings from science and social science research with local knowledge. By supporting cross-disciplinary exploration at the interface of water science, social values, and public policy, the Centre provides a forum for advancing evidence-based research and concrete societal change. This research approach creates space to test policy and technological innovation.
The Water Crisis
The World Economic Forum identifies the water crisis as the tob global risk - affecting human health, global economy and political stability. Universal water security and sustainable aquatic ecosystems lie at the core of sustainable human, economic and social development. Climate change impacts, human-influenced pressures such as urbanization and population growth, deteriorating ecosystem quality and aging water infrastructure all pose serious challenges that must be overcome.
PWRC was created in response to these existing and emerging challenges - a research and knowledge hub that addresses water issues through targeted research, partnership-based initiatives and policy-relevant outputs.
Key Functions
PWRC adds value to ongoing and emerging research activities. It also seeks to broaden the geographical focus by developing and supporting international and Canada-wide research initiatives.
- Research Coalition Building: The Centre brings together researchers and organizations around multi-disciplinary research initiatives that would not normally partner on their own. Such coalition building is the main ingredient for innovation.
- Resource Mobilization: The Centre mobilizes technical, financial and administrative resources to catalyze planning meetings and workshops and support researchers and graduate students.
- Bridging Science and Policy: The Centre brokers knowledge between the research community and policy audiences, including the general public. It integrates data from its research initiatives to develop policy-relevant findings and products.
Strategic Priorities
- Community Engagement: PWRC connects with and engages communities, with a particular attention to issues pertaining to indigenous communities.
- Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience Building: Adaptation to climate change and building ecological and societal resilience are at the core of all PWRC activities. Its ACT (the Adaptation to Climate Change Team) brings leading experts from around the world and conducts groundbreaking research designed to identify opportunities for sustainable adaptation.
- Water Security: Access to safe water for every individual is a common theme for all research work at the Centre.