CSEI publishes Systems Approach to Regional Water Planning working Paper

It is with great pleasure that we are launching our long-anticipated Working Paper titled Systems Approach to Regional Water Management – the first in a new series from the Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation (CSEI) at Imperial College London. This work is the outcome of a fruitful and strategic collaboration with the Environment Agency and Mott MacDonald. As such, it is an excellent example of collaboration across academia, government, and private sector – of the type needed to address the world's increasingly complex problems drawing on the collective insights from multiple stakeholder perspectives.

The paper explains a three-step process for integrated planning for water resources. Specifically:

Agree and align common metrics, goals and planning assumptions
Undertake integrated modelling to assess water management options
Combine the options into an integrated portfolio.

The work draws on:

Collaboration between the Environment Agency and CSEI at Imperial College London in developing a water system meta-model and water systems mapping
Research undertaken by CSEI in developing WSIMOD, a new integrated water system model
Research undertaken by Mott MacDonald for the Environment Agency on applying systems thinking to the OXCAM arc
Further pioneering work by Mott MacDonald for Defra, the EA and WRSE on applying systems approaches to practical projects.

We welcome your feedback so do get in touch with any comments and/or to get involved with our ongoing work.

The Working Paper is available to download here.

If you would like to hear more about CSEI’s research, contact our Research and Engagement Manager Dr Jeni Giambona, j.giambona@imperial.ac.uk, or visit our Get Involved page.

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