One Health Summer Institute students conducting research at Lusk Creek, Alberta.ANDREA KORMYLO
UCalgary championing cross-disciplinary efforts to ‘tackle grand challenges’
Protecting the quality of water and the health of those who depend on it in an era of extreme flooding and drought caused by climate change brings complex social, economic, physical, environmental and governmental challenges.
Water researchers at the University of Calgary are pioneering an innovative approach that tackles these pressing issues in a way that is collaborative, community driven and builds knowledge between, across and beyond traditional disciplines.
“The problems are so big, we need to solve them as a group,” says Martyn Clark, a professor of hydrology with a research chair in environmental prediction in the Schulich School of Engineering at UCalgary. “We need to have much more collaboration with our government partners, with industry, with communities and across national borders.”
Kerry Black, a professor of environmental engineering at the school whose research focuses on water and wastewater treatment, infrastructure and sustainable community development, says UCalgary’s water research group has championed “conversations around how to tackle these grand challenges,” in co-operation with others in fields such as business, public policy, arts, geography and science.
This is part of the university’s Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship, which brings together scholars and non-academic partners to focus on areas from designing, planning and building sustainable, healthy communities to exploring how data can be used to expand and create connections.
“We have to utilize the skill sets that everybody brings to the table,” says Dr. Black, Canada Research Chair in integrated knowledge, engineering and sustainable communities. She studies the context of technological innovation and what drives change. “Different ways of thinking and knowing and doing, supported by new voices, allow UCalgary to foster a space of innovation.”
Kerry Black“We have to utilize the skill sets that everybody brings to the table. Different ways of thinking and knowing and doing, supported by new voices, allow UCalgary to foster a space of innovation.
Professor of Environmental Engineering, UCalgary; Canada Research Chair in integrated knowledge, engineering and sustainable communities
Dr. Clark, who specializes in hydrological prediction, estimating the water in rivers and lakes over the coming days, months, seasons and years, says the distinguishing feature of transdisciplinary research is its focus on key problems of relevance to society. Water research has seen a “huge shift away from professors working in their own offices to try to solve problems” to collaboration and open science, he notes. “We’re doing a much better job of sharing our data and models.”
People have been integrated into the process, Dr. Black says, “centring our solutions around those who need them the most.” There’s a shift in the understanding of how the connection to water is linked to people’s health and well-being, she points out, and a greater focus on the inequities in Canada with respect to water access.
Dr. Clark says Canada has fallen behind in establishing long-term partnerships outside of academia; for example, involving government, industry and communities. Other countries allow researchers to build long-term relationships with such partners rather than the “fits-and-starts rethinking and revisioning that we see in Canadian academic circles.”
Water researchers at the University of Calgary, including Martyn Clark, a professor of hydrology with a research chair in environmental prediction in the Schulich School of Engineering, are pioneering an innovative approach to tackle water security challenges in a way that is collaborative and community driven.Supplied
UCalgary is home to the world’s first United Nations University hub focused on water, which includes four research clusters tackling water problems, says Dr. Clark, the hub’s executive co-director.
The university also houses the UNESCO Chair in Mountain Water Sustainability, which links Canada, Chile, Nepal and mountain water communities around the world with the goal of achieving sustainability of high mountain waters under the stress of climate change. Dr. Black, a UNESCO co-chair in mountain water sustainability, says this research also has a strong focus on people. “You have to reframe the problem so that you’re actually tackling what’s relevant at the community level.”
Dr. Clark says the role of UCalgary is to help build community solutions that address key questions, in partnership with others. “We’re writing computer code; we’re developing big models in a way that can be shared across different groups.”
The university is also convening gatherings focused on transdisciplinary research, such as a four-day workshop in October 2024, part of the UCalgary Discovery Exchange Series, which will include an environmental prediction summit. “We’re bringing people together from different corners of the globe engaged in climate-related water research to think about how we can solve these big problems collaboratively,” Dr. Clark says.
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