Founded in 1998 as Study Group on Hydrological Extreme Events the IGU Commission for Water Sustainability looks back on nearly a quarter of a century of geographical water research. In the context of this Centennial Congress celebrating 100 years of IGU, the paper outlines milestones and key achievements of the Commission. Based on a brief review of activities and outputs the paper analyses how the research themes of the Commission evolved in response to global hydrological trends and changing needs of society. The paper also addresses challenges for facilitating internationally collaborative water research as a key objective of the Commission. This includes lacking resources for many members from developing countries to regularly attend meetings as well as the dominance of English in scientific publishing posing a challenge to many non-English speakers. Examples of how the Commission tries to mitigate associated effects are presented and include, among other, internal language editing of manuscripts by members for members, joint publications, videoconferencing, sharing of information on multinational project calls (e.g. BRICS), joint submissions of project proposals, conducting joint research projects, exchanging students, sharing of data, as well as mutual study visits. Lastly, an attempt is made to identify critical areas for future water studies of the Commission specifically focussing on themes related to water sustainability.
Mots clés : IGU Commission|Water sustainability|history|achievements |research
A103077FW