Co-Creating Water Knowledge

Details of the Working Group

Co-Creating Water Knowledge (CCWK): Co-lead by (alphabetical order) Wouter Buytaert, Giulio Castelli, Natalie Ceperley and Ben Howard.

The group will contribute to the goal by synthesizing the available experiences of participatory water management and governance and participatory research in water sciences to develop a comprehensive state of the art, identify research gaps and implement suitable training activities within IAHS. For information: [email protected]; [email protected]

View the proposal and sign up here and view the Presentation from the November 2023 webinar.

EGU Blogs about the working group:

 

YouTube Channel

IAHS - Co-creating Water Knowledge: https://www.youtube.com/@IAHS-CCWK 

 

Zenodo Community

Zenodo Community of the group.

 

Perspective paper

Our group published a first perspective paper titled Co-creating water knowledge: a community perspective on Hydrological Sciences Journal:

Castelli, G., Howard, B. C., Adyel, T. M., AghaKouchak, A., Agramont, A., Aksoy, H., … Ceperley, N. (2025). Co-creating water knowledge: a community perspective. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 70(16), 2899–2919. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2025.2571065 

 

 

Objectives of the group

The objectives of the group were initially proposed by the Leads and then advanced in two participatory meetings between November 2023 and January 2024.

Short term: (1) Increase awareness in the hydrological community of the value of multiple and diverse water knowledges for sustainable development in a changing world. (2) Establish a multi- and transdisciplinary network of academics from the social and natural sciences arts, and humanities, social actors, and citizens to develop co-creation approaches to water management and knowledge.

Long Term: (1) Develop a shared vision and strategy, and dedicated teaching/learning material, for valuing multiple and diverse water knowledges within IAHS. (2) Identify and foster co-created research and development initiatives that: i. bridge disciplinary siloes and generate power-sensitive accounts of the production and distribution of hydrological knowledge; ii. recognises and leverages diverse grassroot knowledge on water management at multiple scales and in different contexts; iii. engage civil society as well as other disciplines, including social sciences. (3) Develop a database of good practices of co-creation of knowledge, including strategies to motivate people and approaches to check the quality of co-creation processes.

Ultimate: (1) Develop a platform within IAHS dedicated to co-creating water knowledge.

 

News

IAHS - EGU Alexander von Humboldt Conference "HYDROLOGY FOR ALL - CO-CREATING EQUITABLE WATER SOLUTIONS"

Call for abstracts: https://cocreatewater.sciencesconf.org/

Deadline for abstract submission: 3/7/2026 23:59 CET 

 

EGU 2026 Conference

The CCWK working group was present at the EGU26 Conference in Vienna.

08:30*-10:15 | Room 2.97 IAHS-HELPING Co-Creating Water Knowledge Working Group Meeting - SPM69
*flexible - join when you can! 

10:45-12:30 | Room -2.82 Short Course Co-creation in Practice: Challenges, Successes, and Strategies in Water Research - SC2.4

14:00-15:45 | Hall A #85-93 - POSTER
16:15-18:00 | Room 2.15 - ORAL
Co-creation in Hydrology and Water Resources Management - HS5.2.3

 

3-8 November 2025: Scientific Session at the World Anthropological Congress (WAU) 2025

The working group submitted a panel on "Hydro-sociology: Theories, Methods and Politics of Working with Waters and People” at the World Anthropological Congress (WAU) 2025, in Guatemala. Free online attendance is possible.

 

6 October 2025: Side Event on Co-creation at the Scientific Assembly of IAHS

The side event "Co-Creating Water Knowledge - Working Group Meeting" will be organized at the Scientific Assembly of IAHS at the IIT Rorkee, in India. The event will be organized with activities outside the conference venue (a walk to be planned in the nature around Rorkee) to facilitate exchange and mutual learning, and new ideas. In the on-site part of the meeting, an informal yet practical meeting will be organized.

 Side Event on Co-creation at the Scientific Assembly of IAHS in Roorkee 2025

 

Co-creation sessions at EGU 2025

A scientific session organized by CCWK took place at EGU 2025 conference: Co-creation in Hydrology and Water Resources Management.

During the conference, also a Splinter Meeting (side event) was organized to dicuss in person the activity of the Working Group.

 

Word cloud of “What do we want from co-creation” developed during the Splinter Meeting

 

Working group meeting at EGU 2024 

The working group met in person at the EGU 2024 conference on 16 April 2024. The main activities of the group were presented and discussed, and a participatory methodology was put in place to advance the writing of the first CCWK perspective paper on co-creation.

 

Conferences participation

  • Buytaert et al., "Co-creating Water Knowledge: a  community perspective for the IAHS HELPING Decade" at the 2025 IAHS Scientific Assembly in Rorkee, India, 5-10 October 2025.

 

Wouter Buytaert presenting at the Scientific Assembly of IAHS in Roorkee 2025

  • Ocampo-Melgar et al., “Co-creation as a lever of science for solutions in hydrology and water resources management: a community perspective” - Joint meeting on water resources systems and statistical hydrology (9th International Symposium on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), 14th International Workshop on Statistical Hydrology (STAHY), 1st Brazilian Meeting on Statistical Hydrology (EBHE)), Florianópolis, Brazil, 4-7 November 2024.

Anahí Ocampo-Melgar presenting in Florianópolis

  • Ceperley et al. “Co-Creating Water Knowledge: A Transdisciplinary Framework for Finding Solutions to Challenges of Hydrology and Water Management in the Anthropocene” - 22nd Swiss Geoscience Meeting, Basel, Switzerland, 8-9 November 2024 - Download the poster!
  • Castelli et al., “Co-creation as a Lever of Science for Solutions in Hydrology and Water Resources Management: A Community Perspective” - AGU 2024 Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., USA, 9-13 December 2024.

 

Webinar series

  • 23.10.2024: Co-creation in a conflict-ridden space: A reflection - David Gwapedza (Ph.D), Lecturer and researcher in hydrology and climatology at the University of Namibia.
  • 03.12.2024: Making the Informal Legible: How Community-Engagement Improves Quantitative Data - Brian Waters, PhD Candidate in Geography, York University. Link for registration.
  • 28.01.2025, 3pm-4pm CET: Co-creation in water governance: climate change, agency and power considerations - Dr. Deborah Ayodele-Olajire,Lecturer, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Link for registration.
  • 16.04.2025, 1pm-2pm CET: Capacities and skills for locally-led knowledge co-production for managing climate and disaster risk in Europe: lessons from the DIRECTED project - Lydia Cumiskey, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, MaREI, University College Cork. Link for registration
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