“What failure prepared you for later success?” Tim Ferriss often asks this question to the high-performing guests on his podcast, giving them the opportunity to reflect on how setbacks have shaped their journey. Whether the guest is a leader in business, medicine or science, their answers often share a common theme: failure is not only inevitable, but essential. These moments of strugg ...[Read More]
What are water walks, and how can you use them as a research method to gather social science research data?
While doing my PhD, which explored community water governance in Scotland, I interviewed participants to understand their work and views concerning communities. I quickly found that I wanted and needed to leave my and their offices to have these conversations. The setting restricted the conversation, making it difficult to connect with what they told me, and sometimes to move beyond expected answ ...[Read More]
Catch the rain when it falls: a journey through water harvesting in the Anthropocene
As an environmental engineer trained in water resources management, I have always been fascinated by the multiple uses of water, and specifically the use of water for food production. I always assumed that “the largest share of freshwater resources was used for food production”, thus I logically pursued my MSc. thesis and then my Ph.D. in agricultural sciences. How Fieldwork Shifted My Perspective ...[Read More]
Mapping the Future of Freshwater: An Interview with Niko Wanders on the World Water Map Project
Back in 2022, two hydrologists and water resources specialists from University of Utrecht launched the World Water Map in collaboration with the National Geographic Society and ESRI. Based on the outputs of their global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB, the team of Marc Bierkens and Niko Wanders map global water resources and identify the regions most at risk of water scarcity. The maps combine stat ...[Read More]