Presented by: Dr Daanish Mustafa, King’s College, London
Date and time: 12:30 – 14:00 – Tuesday 18 March, 2008

The seminar highlighted some of the ongoing and potential conflicts surrounding water resources with the help of three case studies of groundwater, urban flooding and rural irrigation systems. The presentation outlined different conceptual approaches to studying climate change and make a case for questioning the dominant water management practices in the developing world. It is argued that new thinking in water management will be crucial to securing socially just and environmentally friendly water resources development.

Dr. Daanish Mustafa is a member of the Geography Department at King’s College, London. Throughout his academic career his research interests have been on the issues of development, water resources, and hazards of geography. He has been particularly interested in the role of social power relations in influencing geographies of access to water—be it for agricultural or domestic water use--and vulnerability to hazards. He received his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. Subsequently, he was a visiting assistant professor of geography at George Mason University, and then an assistant professor of Geography, at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. Furthermore, he is part of an international research group facilitated by Institute for Environmental and Social Transition (ISET), which through a DFID funded grant, is investigating in South Asia the efficacy of Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives.