Oxford Ideas Festival: Pages

EVERY DROP MATTERS

Along with seminars supporting students’ personal development, our Development Programme also creates opportunities to disseminate research and facilitate dialogue on global concerns, writes MTST Programme Director Claire Cockcroft.

Dr Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey speaking at the ‘Every Drop Matters’ event From rural, sub-Saharan Africa to the megacities of the world, there’s a global water crisis on the horizon. One in 10 people around the world - around 800 million - do not have access to clean water and, by 2025, half of the global population will live in countries with high water stress, raising the prospect of water wars. With sustainability a central tenet of Somerville’s strategy, we held an interdisciplinary event last October blending music, sound and film with community research projects to raise awareness about one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century: water security.

Heralding a return to live events, the panel highlighted some key issues — from water scarcity and flooding caused by climate change and glacial melt, to inequality of access to safe water and coordinated management of urban water. They also tackled the intricacies of transboundary agreements and diplomacy in shared water sources.

Flowing throughout the event were dramatic soundscapes, the result of some unique creative collaborations between composers, filmmakers and researchers. Alaskanborn conductor, Dr Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey, formerly a Junior Research Fellow at Somerville and Director of Research at the Oxford Conducting Institute, uses orchestral music to promote social justice and environmental sustainability. She was instrumental in a collaboration with Oxford-based band Pecq and Alice Chautard at the School of Geography, who uses photography to communicate the science around water security and climate research. ‘Every Drop Matters’ Watch on YouTube

”Through orchestral music we have an opportunity – and perhaps a responsibility – to engage with pressing social and environmental issues. Creating new compositions is one such way, and may help orchestrate behavioural change,” Dr Ponchione-Bailey explained. “Earth Flow, was composed in response to research recounting stories of climate change along the Gandiki River in Nepal. Focusing on themes of erosion, landslides and glacial melt, the music incorporates field recordings of wind, water, landslides and rivers. We hope it will get audiences reflecting on the connection between climate change and global water security, as well as their own water consumption.”

A second work, Reaching Water, was inspired by stories from local communities in Ethiopia’s Awash River Basin. The piece explored the long journeys faced by many people as the climate crisis challenges their access to water: the average woman in rural Africa walks 6km daily, hauling around 18kg water. Globally, women and girls spend an estimated 200 million hours every day carrying water, time that could be invested in education or income generating activities to improve their lives.

Rising global water use and agricultural demands to deliver food security, alongside population growth, expanding urbanisation and climate change, are some of the key drivers of water insecurity. Water availability is becoming more unpredictable as climate change influences the global water cycle. To increase resilience, large urban areas need better coordination of surface and groundwater use and robust water governance. Safa Fanaian (2018, DPhil Geography), a water security researcher from the Oxford-India Centre for Sustainable Development at Somerville whose work focuses on waste water and sewage release into rivers in urban India, spoke at the event about the challenges of urban water management.

“The water problem is one of a gradual normalisation of pollution,” she explained. “Like the story of the frog in hot water, as the water gets gradually hotter the realisation that the water is too hot comes a bit late. Similarly, the urban rivers are gradually getting more polluted, such that sadly now it is ‘normal’ to look at urban rivers as open sewers.”

Social, cultural and political factors all play a role in developing long-term solutions to water security risks that are looming as a consequence of climate change, water use and policy decisions. Dr Hussam Hussein, a University Lecturer in International Relations, Fellow in Water Diplomacy and JRF at Somerville, presented a global perspective on water politics. His research focuses on water policies for protecting shared water in the Middle East, transboundary water governance, and issues related to the political economy of water resources.

“The Middle East is the most water scarce region in the world,” he said. “Most of its freshwater resources originate outside of the Arab region. By looking at water security from an international relations perspective, I can be involved in processes of water diplomacy and facilitate just and fair outcomes of negotiations for the allocation to shared waters.”

“We need to work towards a sustainable use of water while facilitating dialogue between stakeholders and across borders. To solve the water problem, we need interdisciplinary and holistic approaches that are able to consider water in its relation to food and energy security.”

Safa Fanaian

Dr Hussam Hussein

As part of the Development Programme’s mentoring scheme, Dr Hussein introduced three undergraduates to the field of water policy to gain research skills and insight into academic careers. Ruby Cooper (2020, Philosophy, Politics and Economics) said of her internship:

“With financial support from a Thatcher Development Award, I was able to devote my time to researching and gaining insight into a field that is so theoretically and practically valuable,” said Ruby. “It has allowed me to further my interest in the academic study of politics, as well as the field of international development and conflict resolution. I am very grateful that college has provided me with this opportunity as both an insight into and facilitation of the career path I am keen to follow.”

Throughout the pandemic, the Development Programme has grown to provide a forum that enables researchers to share their passion for their subject with students. As the ripples of uncertainty from the pandemic subside, we look forward to fostering further career-enhancing opportunities for students to gain research experience, hone their public speaking skills, and engage in dialogue about topical issues and future global challenges. ‘Earth Flow’ by Pecq Listen on Bandcamp