News

Climate, water and energy are highly interdependent. The use of fossil fuels is an important driver behind climate change, the impacts of which most notably manifest themselves through changing hydrological and meteorological processes, such as droughts, floods and heatwaves. These in turn impact our water and energy needs, for example air conditioners or access to clean and safe drinking water. Access to water is impossible without energy, and water itself is a source of energy. The transition to cleaner, renewable energy sources is a crucial step to curb future climate change and at the same time help alleviate the global water crisis.

A message from the Faculty of Engineering.

On Saturday, April 15, the world lost Distinguished Professor Emeritus Raymond L. Legge, a former chemical engineering professor and an irreplaceable member of the Waterloo Engineering community. He was 68 years old.

Flood Impacts, Carbon Pricing and Ecosystem Sustainability (FINCAPES) is a multi-stakeholder feminist initiative, and a collaboration with Indonesia, enabling climate adaptation and conservation of biodiversity

The 2023 federal budget includes $650 million over 10 years to support monitoring, assessment, and restoration activities in the watersheds of the Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg, Lake of the Woods, St. Lawrence River, Fraser River, Saint John River, Mackenzie River, and Lake Simcoe.

Water Institute member Philippe Van Cappellen was interviewed by 13 CBC radio stations on his views on the importance of this funding initiative.

Water Institute member Larry A. Swatuk, Professor in the Faculty of Environment’s School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED), had his work with the W12+ initiative featured in the United Nations World Water Development Report 2023, Partnerships and cooperation for water.

Released at the UN 2023 Water Conference held March 22-24 in New York, the report directly informed discussions, describing how building partnerships and enhancing cooperation across all dimensions of sustainable development are essential to accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal for water and sanitation (SDG 6) and realizing human rights to water and sanitation.

From March 22–24, the United Nations hosted the 2023 Water Conference at UN Headquarters in New York City, the first UN Water Conference in nearly 50 years. Thousands of participants travelled from across the globe to discuss progress and make new commitments towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 – Ensure access to water and sanitation for all. Having received special accreditation from the UN General Assembly, the Water Institute supported the participation of four University of Waterloo Ph.D. students to participate in the conference. The following are their reflections on key outcomes of the conference:

The Water Institute and Society of the Water Institute Graduate Students (SWIGS) hosted their annual World Water Day Celebration on Wednesday, March 22.

For the first time since 2019, participants gathered in person, this year in the Black and Gold Room of the SLC/PAC expansion, creating a fresh new feel which complimented the UN theme of Accelerating Change!

Published by the Faculty of Science.

Water has many unique properties. An interdisciplinary team of Waterloo scientists has discovered a one-dimensional chain of water molecules could produce a quantum phase transition. This breakthrough is a key development for future water-based quantum devices.

Published by the Cheriton School of Computer Science.

PhD candidate Joel Wretborn and his colleagues Alexey Stomakhin and Steve Lesser at the New Zealand–based visual effects studio WētāDigital x Unity and Douglas McHale at WētāFX have won an Emerging Technology Award at the 21^st annual Visual Effects Society Awards for their water simulation toolset used in Avatar: The Way of Water.

A delegation from the Water Institute at the University of Waterloo, headed by Roy Brouwer, Executive Director of the Water Institute, is preparing for the UN 2023 Water Conference taking place at UN Headquarters in New York, 22-24 March.