Global water resources are degraded through mismanagement and climate change. Complete mitigation is not possible and some of the damages are effectively irreversible, leading to an unavoidable increase of water scarcity, coining the term water bankruptcy. This calls for a change in water governance that addresses unavoidable damage instead of treating the problem like a short-term crisis.
There are many promising strategies like managed aquifer recharge, nature-based solutions (e.g. wetlands) and a change in agricultural practices, but the problem can’t be reduced to a purely technical one. Instead, it is important to highlight that strong water-society relations lead to an inherently political problem
For an equity-based transition towards bankruptcy management, management decisions must be embedded in a policy framework ensuring water is allocated legitimately.
I consider looking at how demand side reallocation through prioritizing basic needs can be assessed and implemented to adapt to diminishing water resources in a socially just way.
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References:
[1] Madani, K. (2026). Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post Crisis Era. United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU INWEH). https://doi.org/10.53328/inr26kam001
[2] Linton, J., & Budds, J. (2014). The hydrosocial cycle: Defining and mobilizing a relational-dialectical approach to water. Geoforum, 57, 170–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.10.008
[3] Garcia de Gouveia, Andreza & Britto, Ana & Formiga Johnsson, Rosa. (2023). Hydrosocial cycles, territories, and scarcity: shaping inequalities and exclusion in water access – an integrative systematic review. Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente. 62. 437-457.
I really like your idea! By including mismanagement and climate change impacts the topic of water bankruptcy includes natural and social systems, which I think is very fitting for this program. By looking at long-term solutions to this you can visualise futures, which are desirable for all of us, since water and its availability affect every human, even though not in the same way. I personally would be particularly interested to see how water scarcity interacts with social injustice and how these dynamics shape both the impacts and potential mitigation measures. From this perspective your choice to focus on more than the technical side as well as on legitimate allocation feels especially important. I’m very interested to see where you will go with the topic and super excited to see your poster!