Partner Universities’ Research Strengths: Highlights

IWC partner universities are all considered leaders in various areas of water-related research. The following centres highlight a few of the key strengths of our research partners.
 

Advanced Wastewater Management Centre

 The University of Queensland

The Advanced Water Management Centre (AWMC) is an international centre of excellence in innovative water technology and management with expertise in education, research and consulting.

While the Centre has a well-established and highly-successful research program in the sewer management area, AWMC sees its role expanding from the wastewater treatment process focusing both up- and downstream. The emerging reality of the sewer system becoming part of the overall water supply system will put more emphasis on the source management and control aspects in the urban sanitation system. Likewise, the emphasis of wastewater treatment is expanding rapidly from primarily an environmental protection focus such as nutrient reduction to a significantly increased treatment capacity for a range of contaminants of concern, with an amplified public health focus.

Australian Rivers Institute

Griffith University

The Australian Rivers Institute (ARI) was established by Griffith University in 2006 to provide a focus for Australia's largest group of university-based scientists with expertise in river, catchment and coastal research and education, and builds on the University's long-standing reputation in environmental science.

ARI builds on the strengths of two influential Griffith research centres, the Centre for Riverine Landscapes and the Centre for Aquatic Processes and Pollution. Its research portfolio centres around six strategic themes: catchment and river processes, water allocation and environmental flows, coastal and estuarine processes, aquatic biodiversity and conservation, restoration science and monitoring and assessment.

ARI is committed to promoting a whole-of-water-cycle water catchment and river-coastal linkage management philosophy and, through providing easier access to a co-ordinated skills base, enhance capacity building initiatives in Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region.

Urban Water Governance Program

Monash University

The National Urban Water Governance Program comprises a group of social research projects that are investigating the changing governance of traditional urban water management in Australia. Innovation in Water Sensitive Urban Design and Integrated Urban Water Management are gaining prominence, and this is leading to change and reform agendas (i.e. the Australian Government's National Water Initiative).

The program is intended to help facilitate progress towards achieving a 'water sensitive' city by investigating a number of recognised knowledge gaps in relation to understanding the current institutional, organisational and professional impediments to advancing more sustainable urban water management, and understanding how to effectively enable institutional development and organisational change that encourages the wide-spread implementation of sustainable forms of urban water management.

Centre for Excellence in National Resource Management 

The University of Western Australia

By building on existing programs of key staff and investigating new research opportunities in NRM, the Centre seeks to address emerging local issues, and maintains a national and international profile through linkages and collaboration with appropriate partners.
 
The Centre’s research activities encompass five broad program themes: catchment and water management, the use of degraded lands and waters, interaction between human activity and coastal and estuarine environments, extractive technologies, and NRM policy and economics
 
Within these themes, the strategic objectives are: to develop a regional centre of expertise in natural resource management, make a significant and recognised contribution to addressing Australia's natural resource management problems, foster collaboration with industry and other partners in solving Australia's natural resource management problems, and to ensure product satisfaction among external funding agencies, increasing the level of external funding to make a real contribution to the local economy.