Water

Flood

Research Director: Professor Louise Heathwaite

(Director of the Centre for Sustainable Water Management in the Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, and NERC Theme Leader, Sustainable Use of Natural Resources)

Purpose

The water environment is facing unprecedented pressures. Climate change may mean more flooding, a problem exacerbated in many towns and cities where the drainage infrastructure is outdated. Paradoxically, climate change may also increase the frequency of severe drought, leading to water shortages in some areas. At the same time land use changes shift agricultural demand for water and may impact on water quantity and quality downstream. River flows must support good ecological status, the core requirement of the EU's Water Framework Directive, so water pollution must be minimised. And for all these issues, the public have increasing expectations for stakeholder engagement.

The N8 water group brings together an unprecedented network of expertise (a world class knowledge base of over 330 scientists from eight research universities in the north of England with expertise in science for sustainable water use). Our purpose is to use this expertise to address long-term challenges and opportunities facing the water environment, especially in our region. We will link actively with government and regulatory agencies, business and agriculture, land and water management bodies, and urban and rural communities at all levels. The N8 Water Group provides critical mass across this disparate, diverse, interdisciplinary area, allowing an integrated approach to water management issues, and offering the highest quality skills and facilities to support this work.

Vision

Our long-term strategy has three ambitions:

  1. To make a real difference to the sustainability of water use in both rural and urban areas through actions to: use water more efficiently; reduce adverse environmental impacts on water; and enhance the water environment, including ecological status, for all users.
  2. To improve the economy of the north of England through enhanced competitiveness achieved by expansion of the use of knowledge-based services and technologies.
  3. To harness the support and co-operation of northern communities through more effective stakeholder engagement in water use and to build measures to enhance the quality of life.

Strategy

Our objectives are to:

  1. Provide a co-ordinated approach to water research through collaboration between 8 research-led universities.
  2. Undertake interdisciplinary research which targets the major pressures facing the water environment in the north of England.
  3. Establish knowledge transfer partnerships with regulatory agencies, water managers and industry.
  4. Develop, target and accelerate the effective uptake and exploitation of commercial opportunities arising out of collaborative research.
  5. Ensure that our science is available to the whole international community.
  6. Create a range of development opportunities for new researchers  

Our aim is to develop, target and accelerate the effective uptake and exploitation of commercial opportunities arising out of collaborative research and development on four innovation themes:

  • Sensor and Communication Technologies: will focus on the development of sensor, communication systems and integrated catchment modelling technologies for process automation, optimisation and enhanced decision support.
  • Urban Water Management: brings together innovation priorities around sustainable water management in cities and other urban areas and also considers the impacts of climate change in these environments to ensure major urban centres are future proofed against the impacts of climate change and the increasing pressures on water.
  • Reducing Water Footprints: the focus for this theme is to develop science to accurately identify and manage the water footprints of nations, multi-national operations, supply chains and products and increase the efficiency of water use at these various levels of intervention
  • Water, Health and Disease: will focus on better quality, supply and sanitation needs of emerging economies, and health and disease related aspects of water supply in developed nations.

Contacts

For more information and to get involved please contact a member of the Business Development Team:

Martin Gilmore, m.gilmore@n8watergroup.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1524 510 229

Amine Melaine, a.melaine@n8watergroup.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1524 510 205

www.n8watergroup.co.uk

N8 Water Group
The Lancaster Environment Centre
Lancaster University
Lancaster
LA1 4YQ
United Kingdom