Who We Are
Among the MAJOR GOALS OF THE CENTRE are generation, synthesis, application and dissemination of knowledge and capacity building.
THE CENTRE’S MISSION STATEMENT is to promote efficient water management and equitable water use, considering not only today’s problems but also tomorrow’s issues, within the overall context of international development and poverty alleviation, based on a global vision of solidarity, of an era of globalization.
THE CENTRE is primarily a knowledge-based and application oriented think tank, having activities in many areas, both in terms of issues and geographical coverage. The Centre focuses on four specific areas: knowledge generation, knowledge synthesis, knowledge application and knowledge dissemination.
THE CENTRE is a unique institution in the water sector in terms of its philosophy, its inter-sectoral and multidisciplinary approach to identify the nature of the current and the future water-related problems, and the search for implementable solutions. These are based on the following assumptions:
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The water management processes will become increasingly more and more complex in the coming years.
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Tomorrow’s water problems cannot be solved on the basis of analyses of yesterday’s problems and using day before yesterday’s solutions.
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Increasingly, many of the emerging water problems and their solutions will come from outside the water sector, on which the water profession is likely to have very little control.
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Implementable solutions have to be case specific. For example, solutions that are feasible in France, Germany, UK or USA may not be applicable in China, India, Egypt or Mexico because of differing climatic, physical, economic, social, environmental, legal and/or institutional conditions.
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A single paradigm, irrespective of its conceptual attractiveness, may not be equally valid or operationally applicable, for all countries of a non-homogeneous world at different stages of socio-economic development, or at any specific point in time.
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It is common wisdom that the world will shortly be facing an unprecedented water crisis because of physical scarcity of water. However, what we are facing is not a crisis in terms of physical water availability but a continuing crisis in water management and governance. Water is being used very inefficiently in most countries of the world, and for nearly all purposes.
THE CENTRE works on the basis of its extensive networks with the most appropriate institutions and/or individuals from different countries of the world. Once a decision is made to work on a specific issue in a specific geographical location, the Centre selects the best institutions and experts available to analyse and solve specific problems. It then executes a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the institutions/individuals concerned to carry out the specific tasks. The Centre has now worked closely with institutions and experts from over 30 countries.
The core staff members of THE CENTRE develop specific activities, identify the best institutions/experts available, raise the necessary funds to carry out the studies and disseminate the results, provide intellectual inputs to develop appropriate solutions and co-ordinate the studies. The Centre is not a funding agency. Its work is financially supported by numerous foundations, bilateral aid agencies and multilateral development institutions.
THE CENTRE is incorporated in Mexico as a non-profit, tax-exempt, policy-oriented and knowledge-based institution. Since a main goal of the Centre is in terms of knowledge generation, synthesis, application and dissemination, all its activities and results are readily available in terms of books from major international and national publishers, papers in refereed journals, and its own publications. As a policy, the Centre does not accept any funding for a project unless the results can be disseminated without any restriction.
THE CENTRE convenes meetings to distil and synthesize knowledge and experiences on specific issues and/or regions. These are mostly invitation-only meetings, to which about 20-30 leading experts and decision-makers are invited in their personal capacities.