2.9 A Whole of the River Approach: Science and Sustainable Development

Rethinking Development Podcast

Professor Shahbaz Khan is the Director of the UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific and also serves as the UNESCO Representative for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. His key leadership and management areas at UNESCO have included science capacity building and policy advice across the region. He has coordinated key programs such as Water Education for Sustainable Development, Ecohydrology, water and ethics and many others. He is a founding fellow of the Academy of Engineering and Technology of the Developing World. He previously served as the Research Director of the Irrigated Systems and Rural Water Use areas of The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia and as Professor of Hydrology and Director of the International Centre of Water at the Charles Sturt University in Australia where he conducted policy research on the nexus of water, energy and food. He also continues to serve as Adjunct Professor at numerous universities in Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and China. He speaks to us about some of his scientific research, the importance of understanding the perspective of different stakeholders, data sharing across national boundaries, having tangible impact on the lives of beneficiaries, using a whole of the river and a whole of society approach, social inequalities and the environment, public-private partnerships, mobilizing all sectors of society, UNESCO’s COVID-19 related work and much more. He joins us from Canberra, Australia.

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