Prof Chad Staddon and Dr Alan Terry from the University of the West of England spoke to Year 12-13 students and their teachers at a special event on water security organised by the Geographical Association (Bristol Branch) on 31 January. They were joined by UWE BA Geography students Calum Warriner and Harry Chrispin, who discussed the research they conducted in Kenya and Uganda respectively, as part of the UWE Global Water Security Project.
Chad discussed the importance of the concept of water security, and gave some examples of water security and insecurity, from around the world. Alan talked about the links between water supply and food production in the developing world, a nexus relationship that is currently receiving much research attention.
Working with Institute of Environment and Water Management (IEWM), Calum’s research looked at how community-based organisations benefit poor urban farmers and the surrounding population, as well as the gender specific challenges for their development. Harry’s placement with Joint Effort to Save the Environment (JESE) focused on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues – his main research looked into handwashing practice within local schools and households.