Legal Perspectives on Bridging Science and Policy

Legal Perspectives on Bridging Science and Policy deals with the interaction of science and policy from a legal perspective.

Expert contributors outline the role of law in water management and suggest solutions to make laws flexible and adaptive to changes in scientific knowledge and environmental, social and economic conditions. Each chapter addresses the topic with a different focus and offers an in-depth analysis of legal challenges related to the creation of interdisciplinary bridges, clarifying how science may be assimilated into decision-making processes and can thereby contribute to build evidence-based policies.

Legal Perspectives on Bridging Science and Policy will be of great interest to scholars of water law, water governance and environmental law.

This book was originally published in the journal Water International, as a special issue prepared by the International Association for Water Law (known as AIDA from its Spanish acronym https://www.aida-waterlaw.org), gathering selected papers dealing with law and governance from the XVI World Water Congress of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) (2017).

Mara Tignino is a Reader at the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and Lead Legal Specialist of the Platform for International Water Law at the Geneva Water Hub, Switzerland. She acts as an expert and legal adviser for states and international organizations. She holds a PhD in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland, and was a Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University School of Law in Washington D.C., USA.

Raya Marina Stephan is an international consultant in water law. She has a wide experience in projects on transboundary waters and she advises regional and international organizations. She was involved in the experts advisory group of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program to the Special Rapporteur of the UN International Law Commission, on the draft articles of the law of transboundary aquifers. She is the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Water International.

Renée Martin-Nagle earned a PhD in Law from the University of Strathclyde, UK, with a focus on governance of offshore freshwater. She is Treasurer of the International Water Resources Association, President and CEO of A Ripple Effect PLC and a Visiting Scholar at the Environmental Law Institute, USA.

Owen McIntyre is a Professor and Director of the LL.M. (Environmental & Natural Resources Law) Programme at the School of Law at University College Cork, Ireland. His principal area of interest is Environmental Law, with a particular research focus on International Water Law. He has served as Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law’s Specialist Group on Water and Wetlands, and holds visiting positions at Charles University Prague, the Czech Republic; Wuhan University, China; Xiamen University, China; and the University of Dundee, UK.