Applied research
The IWC develops the capacity of the water sector and practitioners at all levels - institutional, inter and intra-organisational, community and individual - to enhance understanding of integrated water management across the professional spectrum.
We collaborate with our university members and other respected research partners, bringing together the biophysical sciences with various social and economic disciplines for sustainable water management outcomes.
Our work generates publications, research grants and postgraduate research training and influences water policy, management education and leadership.
Research aims
The IWC develops knowledge and understanding that lead to more sustainable management of water and waterways, locally and globally.
The IWC guides policy, behaviour-change and the protection of water, waterways and their associated ecological communities.
Research principles
Apply a whole-of-water cycle management framework
- Our research activities are based on a systems approach that considers all aspects of the natural and urban water cycles, including the full range of social, environmental and economic factors.
Tackle complex and relevant issues
- Our research addresses complex problems requiring integrated, transdisciplinary and whole-of-systems approaches.
Contribute to transdisciplinary water management
- Our research approach draws knowledge from multiple disciplines to facilitate holistic transdisciplinary solutions to water challenges.
Build on our partners’ capabilities
- Our research activities draw on our member universities’ strengths in whole-of-water cycle transdisciplinary research to engage in questions of complexity and scale.
Foster collaboration and partnerships
- Our research activities encourage existing and new research partnerships with an emphasis on international collaboration.
Make a difference
- Our research activities make measurable contributions to better management of water.
Our strength is in collaboration
... with researchers across disciplines
By choosing the best people from our member universities and partner organisations for each research activity, we create strong teams that achieve better outcomes than any single organisation.
At IWC we are mindful of the many variables of water management such as culture, society, engineering, science, environment, governance, politics and economics. In our research projects, we consider all the water needs of communities and the environment to ensure outcomes are sustainable and effective.
… with policy-makers
Through the Creating Water Sensitive Cities capacity building workshops, IWC collaborated with researchers across the water sector to work towards improving Australia’s urban water future. In these workshops we shared the outcomes of Monash University’s Urban Water Governance Program’s Water Sensitive Cities research with water-related practitioners around Australia.
The outcomes of these workshops are informing national, state and local government policy, with a multidisciplinary research centre hosted by Monash University to help Australia transition to Water Sensitive Cities.
… with community and government
IWC’s partner, the SEQ Healthy Waterways Partnership, takes a whole-of-government, whole-of-community approach to managing the waterways of South East Queensland, with its Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program (EHMP) and Report Card for the waterways and catchments of South East Queensland.
A multidisciplinary science and research program, comprising IWC members The University of Queensland and Griffith University, underpins a management action program, and a promotional and educational program ensures community awareness and support for action.
This framework is a unique integrated approach to land and water management whereby scientific research, community participation, and policy and strategy development are carried out in parallel - a leading example of collaboration in waterway health.
