The objective of this course is to develop class members' capability to contribute to, lead and understand water policy reforms that address social and environmental injustice.

Water is fundamental to the health and well-being of human societies and the environments they belong to. It is also an input to every economic activity. Governments have developed rules to decide who can access water, how much, of which quality, for what purposes, and when. Policy processes to resolve trade-offs often marginalise the interests and voices of particular groups, communities and places. Inequitable outcomes are the result. This is water injustice. And this course is for policy-makers, non-government organisation staff, industry professionals, researchers, and anyone else who seeks to change how water is shared and how decisions are made.

The course explores challenges and debates in contemporary water management and governance and how these relate to water (in)justice. The first half uses a range of theoretical frameworks to examine key topics, including trade-offs between competing water uses, climate change and water infrastructure development, human rights based approaches, institutional and technical barriers to water justice, and the political and policy processes of water governance reform

The second half of the course applies water justice frameworks to real-world case studies of policy reform, with guest lecturers and speakers providing insights from their professional and personal experiences. The course concludes with a mock public hearing where class members speak from the perspective of a participant in one of these case studies.

The teaching approach is collaborative, with the knowledge and experiences of class members contributing to shared learning through workshops and other interactive activities. Assessments are inputs to these workshops and/or shared via Canvas to stimulate discussion and reflection.