Water for Peace Research builds on the Geneva Water Hub’s work on transboundary and local water management and its collaboration with academic and policy partners, including university-based research networks and the UNESCO Chair on Hydropolitics. As a focused research stream under the Hub’s broader research agenda, it examines how water-related interactions generate risk, tension, or cooperation in politically complex and asymmetrical contexts. Grounded in social science approaches, our research analyses how power relations, legal and institutional frameworks, and scientific knowledge shape water governance outcomes across borders and between communities or sectors. Attention is given to interactions between different governance systems and policy frameworks, the application of international norms in practice, and the effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms in shared river basins. Closely linked to the Hub’s science–policy interface, Water for Peace Research translates empirical research into comparative insights and forward-looking assessments that inform public discourse, support policy and diplomatic processes, and strengthen peace-oriented water governance.-

In partnership with the ICRC, the Geneva Water Hub conducts research on the cascading consequences of armed conflict on water systems.-

The Geneva Water Hub operates at the dynamic intersection of science and policy, serving as a pioneering ‘boundary organization’ on water for peace. Recognizing the fluid nature of the science-policy interface, we adapt different strategies in our work - ranging from the vulgarization of scientific research, to facilitating science-policy exchanges, to policy advocacy and knowledge co-creation. While much of our work operates at the science policy interface, more information on some of our tools dedicated to science-policycan be found below.-

This series is an open-speech opportunity for researchers to expose and explain their ideas and their stances on contemporary challenges linked to water governance. The presentations, delivered in English, are short and impactful. -