Scotland's top civil engineering experts to tackle water crises

Abertay University will host the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment & Society (SAGES) forum on May 11 and 12, where almost 30 delegates will come up with new and inventive research projects seeking to solve water crises across the world.

There will be a particular focus on nations in Africa and South Asia, which are the key elements of ongoing calls by the UK research councils, such as the RCUK Global Challenges Research Fund and the NERC India-India Water Quality call.

As one of the UK’s top water management research centres, Abertay is the lead institution for the event, which will be attended by academics from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Heriot Watt, Stirling and West of Scotland universities.

Representatives from the James Hutton Institute, British Geological Survey, SEPA, the Scottish Association for Marine Science, and the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation will also attend the high-level forum.

Head of Abertay’s Division of Natural and Built Environment, Professor David Blackwood said combining research with educating the next generations of civil engineers would hold the key to global water solutions for emerging nations.

He added: “At Abertay we believe in preparing students for a diverse range of civil engineering projects, including water management, and that’s why we are the only Scottish university that offers a guaranteed work placement for every student.

“As one of the most research-intensive civil engineering departments in the UK, we are ideally placed to host this forum which I hope will lead to opportunities for Scottish universities to collaborate on crucial research projects.”

The forum aims to spark multidisciplinary research in water cycle management, linking natural science research, applied research in water quality and quantity management in rural and urban areas.

A series of major issues for action have been identified by SAGES, including emerging pollutants, ground water and surface water interface and water cycle management.

Workshops at the “Integrated Water Cycle Management” forum will analyse these and other “grand challenges” in the sector.