University of Waterloo

List of blue economy programs/diploma/training/workshops: THE WATER INSTITUTES RESEARCH PROJECTS : ISSUE 8 -Using community-based social marketing to improve stormwater management programs -Using behavioural change programs to encourage pro-environment outcomes. ISSUE 6 -Water management in the food and beverage industry: Key factors in their corporate social performance -Examines the connection between indicators that address sustainable water management and the general corporate social performance of firms. ISSUE 6 -Managing competing interests in aquaculture development: Can conflict resolution modelling help decision making? -Explores improved decision making in one of the world’s fastest growing food-producing sectors. ISSUE 4 -Public willingness to pay for for groundwater quality protection -Dr. Roy Brouwer, Department of Economics Roy Brouwer (Economics) and Portuguese colleagues in environmental sciences estimating for the first time the economic value of groundwater protection in Portugal. ISSUE 3 -Cellulose nanomaterial: A promising sustainable material -Dr. Michael Tam, Department of Chemical Engineering As water quality diminishes across the globe, removing pollutants from our water systems is of prime importance. Conventional water and wastewater treatment processes, no matter how efficient, have a large carbon footprint. How can cellulose nanomaterials make current processes more sustainable? ISSUE 3 -Towards an improved diagnostic approach to handling complex boundary judgments in water governance -Dr. Rob de Loë, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability A major challenge in analyzing and addressing water governance problems is making boundary judgments – deciding which factors to include or exclude – in the face of complexity. What tools can we provide to help those involved with water governance account for a diverse, and sometimes unclear, set of internal and external factors that cause water problems? ISSUE 2 -A policy toolkit for municipalities to share flood risk management and damage costs -Dr. Daniel Henstra, Department of Political Science Flooding is the most costly hazard for Canadian municipalities and recently became the largest source of property insurance claims. Escalating damage to property and infrastructure has prompted greater interest from municipalities in policies that share the responsibility for risk reduction and the burden of costs with other levels of government and non-governmental actors. ISSUE 2 -Bottled water sales linked to fear of dying -Dr. Sarah Wolfe, School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability Pro-environmental campaigns provide information to encourage people to alter their behaviours, but with mixed success. Underlying anti-bottled water campaigns is the assumption that more information generates greater awareness and a corresponding decrease in bottles purchased. But research suggests that these information-driven campaigns do not always generate the anticipated behaviour changes. ISSUE 1 -Water markets as a climate change adaptation policy tool -Dr. Roy Brouwer, Department of Economics Climate change has important consequences for the world’s freshwater resources, in particular their availability in time and space. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events resulting in floods and droughts are expected to increase. Practitioners and researchers are supplementing traditional climate change adaptation solutions with demand management policy tools and instruments, aiming to change human behaviour with respect to water use.