World Water Day offers an opportunity to consider the significance of one of our most precious global resources.

Here at Brock University, the Water Economics Policy and Governance Network (WEPGN) will celebrate by offering a new award to its junior researchers who want to share their findings with a broad audience.

WEPGN is a Canada-wide research initiative that has been headquartered at Brock since it was founded in 2012. The network connects researchers and partners to facilitate meaningful and urgent research into the social, economic and political dimensions of water — matters that are especially relevant to water and jobs, which is the theme of #WWD this year.

The new Connecting With Water award will provide funding for knowledge mobilization activities that communicate the findings generated by WEPGN research projects.

Most importantly, the award will enable junior researchers to propose and undertake their own projects while developing practical skills in knowledge translation and project management.

“The Water Economics, Policy and Governance Network is proud of the role students and other highly qualified personnel have played to date in the success of the network,” explains Steven Renzetti, program director for WEPGN. “We hope that the Connecting With Water award provides an avenue through which students and HQP can research water-related issues and communicate their findings to other researchers and the broader water community in creative ways.”

The award grew out of a pilot project in 2014/15, when Iftekhar Ahmad, a Masters student at York University, was awarded funding for his work on Human well-being, ecosystem services and watershed management in the Credit River Valley: Web-distributed mechanisms and indicators for communication and awareness.

Junior researchers may request up to $7,500 to support their knowledge mobilization project over a period of up to six months. Applications must be submitted with the support of a WEPGN affiliated researcher.

You can learn more about the Connecting With Water Award and other WEPGN initiatives at their web site.

The Connecting With Water award isn’t the only cause for celebration for WEPGN this World Water Day. The SSHRC-funded research network recently completed a midterm review and was approved to start its second three-year term earlier in 2016. WEPGN will use this second phase to continue pursuing impactful research while adding a focus on knowledge mobilization.