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Defence of dissertation in the field of water and environmental engineering, Hafsa Munia, M.Sc. (Tech.)

When water crosses political boundaries – dependencies and intensified scarcity
Kuvituskuva väitöstapahtumaan, Aalto-kynä ja tutkimuspaperi

Limited resources and increasing demand strain the competition for water, especially when river basins cross political boundaries. One of the key challenges is allocating shared water resources and their benefits between different countries. This sets transboundary water scarcity analysis apart from other water scarcity analysis.

The thesis conducted a global analysis of the past, present and future projections of transboundary water scarcity and provides information to improve the understanding of the causes and factors involved. Within the thesis, a novel framework was developed to understand the evolution of transboundary water scarcity over time and to assess downstream dependencies on upstream water use.

The thesis found that although many downstream areas are highly dependent on upstream water resources, the key driver for increased water scarcity has been, and will be in future, local water use. It is therefore important to manage both local and upstream water use and action to avoid scarcity. In future water scarcity in transboundary river basins will mostly intensify in basins which are already under stress. The potential hotspots identified in the analysis provides insights to policymakers to support the long-term water management planning in those basins.

The opponent is Professor Fabrice Renaud from The University of Glasgow, UK.

The custos is Professor Matti Kummu from the Department of Built Environment, Aalto University.

Electronic dissertation: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/49

Doctoral candidate’s contact information:
Hafsa Ahmed Munia
PL 15200, 00076 Aalto
[email protected]
p. 045 645 4111

A doctoral dissertation is a public document and shall be available at Aalto University, School of Engineering’s notice board in Otakaari 4, Espoo at the latest 10 days prior to public defence.

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