A reliable and sufficient supply of clean water is essential to the survival and wellbeing of all human societies. It is all too easy for developed countries to take a plentiful and safe water supply entirely for granted, but in many parts of the world, access to this this life-giving resource is fragile at best. Reliable, sustainable water supplies are key to development.
Fragile water supplies are at risk from a number of factors, including changes in weather conditions, poorly maintained or non-existent supply infrastructure, use by industry, or contamination of groundwater. Climate change, population growth and civil unrest only add to the complexity of this long-term systemic issue.
The Walker Institute is working on the ground, with researchers, aid organisations, programme developers and local communities, to identify the issues facing clean, reliable water supply, and to propose, implement and manage practical water management schemes for many of the most vulnerable communities on our planet, particularly in sub-Sahel Africa.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
On Thursday 8 September 2016 I had the privilege to meet his Excellency Mr George Hodgson, Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Senegal. The meeting, w...
Friday, September 16, 2016
A workshop session by Walker Institute introduces participatory integrated climate services to agriculture extension workers in Rwanda.
Friday, September 16, 2016
When: 22nd - 23rd September 2016 Where: Sorby Room, Wager Building, Whiteknights Campus, University of Reading Register here This interdisciplinary wo...
Friday, September 16, 2016
Walker Institute has partnered with the Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel (OSS) to exhibit at the 22nd United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP2...
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Rainwatch-AfClix hosted a regional workshop with ANACIM in Dakar, Senegal at the end of July. The aim of the workshop was to bring together users and ...
Friday, July 1, 2016
What are the weather and climate information priorities for the West African national hydro-meteorological services? What are the priorities for weath...
Monday, November 7, 2016
By Caroline Dunning and Joshua Talib “The Paris Agreement freed Climate Research” Jochem Marotzke, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Whilst our fir...
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
By Caroline Dunning and Joshua Talib “Our rainfall is changing, yet we need an encouraging method to show the benefits of new methods including usin...
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
By Caroline Dunning and Joshua Talib ‘Only by co-coordinating can we ensure our collective impact is greater than the sum of its parts.’ Representativ...
Thursday, November 10, 2016
By Caroline Dunning and Joshua Talib “Two thirds of proven resources in oil, gas and coal need to be left undeveloped for a 2°C pathway.” Michael Laza...
Friday, November 11, 2016
By Caroline Dunning and Joshua Talib Friday arrived and I think we’re both feeling that it’s been a long week! Dr Alick B. Muvundika came by the Walke...
Saturday, November 12, 2016
More COP adventures took place on Saturday too, although I think we’d both confess that we were quite relieved to find out that the majority of events...
Monday, November 7, 2016
COPbot makes its debut appearance today at the COP 22 climate change conference in Marrakech! COP 22 follows the Paris Agreement which came into force...
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
The second day of COP22 in Marrakech included the official opening of the Indigenous Peoples’ & Local Communities’ Pavilion, accompanied by speeches, ...
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Farmers Day at COP22. Session: Role of Farmers in the Implementation of the Paris Agreement Run by: World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) and the Interna...
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Fossil fuels supply and climate policy Given that fossil fuels are responsible for approximately 85% of anthropogenic CO2emissions (IPCC), reducing th...
Friday, November 11, 2016
“No jobs on a dead planet” – Just Transition Email: sandra.hansen@pgr.reading.ac.uk Session by: International Trade Union Confederations (ITUC), Indus...
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
The Walker Institute Big Event – Wednesday 14 December On Wednesday 14 December, we will be holding our informal pre-Christmas ‘Big Event’. Guests wil...
Monday, December 5, 2016
The University of Reading’s TAMSAT group helped pioneer the use of satellite imagery in rainfall estimation across Africa.
Monday, January 9, 2017
'Mapping the impact of climate data on rural livelihoods: new work in sub Saharan Africa' 12pm 16 January 2017, Sutcliffe Lecture Theatre, University ...
Friday, January 20, 2017
The Director of Walker Institute, Professor Ros Walker is among the many leading scientists in UK climate research to sign a letter calling on Prime M...
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Day 1 24th to 26th January 2017 at La Palm Beach Hotel, Accra, Ghana More than 40 institutions from Burkina Faso, Ghana and UK were present in Accra f...
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Day 2 24th to 26th January 2017 at La Palm Beach Hotel, Accra, Ghana The second day of the AGM started with an opening session by Professor Rosalind C...
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Walker Institute are at the Fifth International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS 5), held at Cape Town from February 27 to March 3. During the ICC...
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Climate change is something that affects us all. However, most at risk are low-income earners in the least developed countries and the majority of poo...
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
The Walker Institute participated at the Fifth International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS 5) held in Cape Town, South Africa from Feb 27 to Ma...
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Blog by Richard Allan The fickle nature of weather patterns is ultimately responsible for the where and when of tropical rainfall extremes which wreak...
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Blog by Hannah Parker During the wet season of 2012 heavy rainfall across West Africa led to flooding with devastating impacts. More than 3 million pe...
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
A comprehensive new handbook about weather forecasting in West Africa could help safeguard lives and resources in the region.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
The Raising Risk Awareness initiative assesses whether climate change has contributed to extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and heatwaves...
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Dr Galine Yanon presented at the International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses at the Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK Apri...
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Blog by Sandy Harrison I was delighted to be spearheading a workshop held at University of Reading in July that brought together observationalists and...
Thursday, June 22, 2017
Professor Ros Cornforth, director of the Walker Institute has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the Oxfam Resilient Solutions symposium held i...
Friday, June 30, 2017
By Cristina Talens, Lorna Young Foundation Smallholders and farming communities in many parts of the world are under huge pressure. Sustained intensiv...
Friday, August 11, 2017
HyCRISTAL is developing pathways for new climate research to support the resilience of rural communities vulnerable to climate change, with an emphasi...
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
The Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) programme recently held its midterm conference in Cape Town, 4-8 September 2017. Over one hundred participants fr...
Friday, October 6, 2017
By Celia Petty, Co-founder and Director of Operations In September, I was able to attend the AMCOMET, African Ministerial Conference on Meteorology, f...
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
This week, the Walker Institute is supporting a two-day event on the RAINWATCH initiative in Kampala, Uganda with the aim of providing the space for d...
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Adaptation Futures is a biennial conference of the Global Programme of Research on Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation (PROVIA) in co...
Monday, July 16, 2018
New research may shed new light on why various climate models produce different predictions of future rainfall over East Africa. It has been published...
Friday, July 20, 2018
The Walker Institute recently shared its expertise in Interdisciplinary working at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMO...
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
The Walker Institute is currently working on the BRAVE project, aiming to better quantify the impacts of climate variability and change on groundwater...
Sunday, October 14, 2018
The Walker Institute is delighted to be part of a new project, NIMFRU (National – Scale Impact – Based Forecasting Flood Risk in Uganda), funded by SH...
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
The 13th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture will be held at 6:30pm on 14th November 2018 in the Madejski Lecture Theatre, at which three industry specialis...
Monday, October 29, 2018
At the end of this month Walker's Max Leighton will be presenting his research findings at the monthly NCAS Climate Science Seminar. Max Leighton is ...
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
The Walker Institute welcomes the announcement by UNFCCC of the adoption of the Katowice Climate Package by COP24 negotiating parties. This robust set...
Monday, December 17, 2018
Check out our activities over COP24, our COP24 dinner with our Walker partners and our COPCAS project!
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
The Presidencies of COP23 & COP24 issued the Talanoa Call for Action calling for the urgent and rapid mobilisation of all actors to step up efforts.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Join us for our annual post-COP debrief! Grab some food and settle down for an interesting and lively debate about what really happened in Katowice.
Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Oceanographer & author John Englander discusses surprising scientific aspects of sea level rise, such as the latest projections for the coming decades...
Monday, January 28, 2019
Check out all the new amazing available PhD projects that SCENARIO NERC DTP are offering in 2019! Deadline for applications 1st February 2019!
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
A recent report published by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and reported in The Guardian, found that limiting ...
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Together with Scenario, we ran our annual COP Climate Action Studio. In addition to running interviews, our students had the chance to write blogs on ...
Friday, February 8, 2019
The Walker Institute is delighted to welcome Dr Andrew Bennett CMG, BSc, DTA, MSc, DSc, FRSA, President of the Tropical Agricultural Association, on t...
Sunday, February 10, 2019
As part of the HyCRISTAL project, one of our post-doctoral research fellows, Dr Grady Walker, will be travelling to Uganda in March. Working with Futu...
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
As part of the NIMFRU project, members of our team will be travelling to the Katakwi district in Uganda this week to carry out vital fieldwork as part...
Monday, March 18, 2019
"Access to water is a defining challenge for the 21st century. The UK has already helped 43 million people to access clean water, but there is far mor...
Monday, April 1, 2019
Professor Rosalind Cornforth chaired a panel session last week, "African climate: knowledge production and decision making", at the REACH programme's ...
Monday, April 1, 2019
Many farmers in Uganda receive important agricultural information in a one-way sharing process, from government agricultural extension officers direct...
Friday, March 29, 2019
IDAPS is facilitating effective livelihood policies in the face of climate change for improved resilience to climate risk
Friday, May 31, 2019
Conference convenors: Alex Arnall, University of Reading, and Uma Kothari, University of Manchester.Although the everyday is commonly regarded as mund...
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
There is a real need for good quality weather and climate information in the Sahel, and a need for this to be made available and integrated into socia...
Thursday, July 4, 2019
Our Interdisciplinary Research Fellow Heather Plumpton told CONNECTED how she learnt to make a difference on climate issues through CSAT project
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Hon James Acidri MP Keynote speech from the HyCRISTAL AGM on 21 May 2019 in Kampala, Uganda
Monday, January 13, 2020
RAINWATCH, is an open-source, web-based GIS platform that provides rainfall data in near-real time from national weather stations and tracks the key s...
Thursday, January 16, 2020
We will be hosting our annual Post-COP event: What really happened at COP25? on Thursday 23 January 13:00-15:00 in Chancellors G05. Come along, grab a...
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Dr Hannah Young, post-doctoral research fellow, went along to the APA Conference last year, check out Hannah's blog below to see what she got up to. I...
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Our Knowledge Innovations & Management Officer, Jacob Myers, recently attended the International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS6), read about hi...
Thursday, March 12, 2020
One of our PhD Students, Faith Mitheu, recently tavelled out to the NIMFRU project communities in Katakwi to observe the final FAMVAC and Listening Gr...
Friday, March 13, 2020
As part of the BRAVE project, our Co-PI Dr David Macdonald, at British Geological Survey (BGS), ran two courses in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 14-16t...
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Members of the BRAVE Project team were recently in Ghana to run three days of training workshops with in-country partners and other key stakeholders i...
Monday, March 16, 2020
Our UPGro colleagues were at the African Water Association Congress (AfWA) in February, whilst there they had the opportunity to interview Dr Paul Ore...
Friday, April 3, 2020
As part of the HyCRISTAL Project, the Water@Leeds team spent time with some community groups in Kisumu and Kampala talking about their experiences of ...
Friday, April 3, 2020
In response to the announcement on Wednesday that the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, due to take place this November in Glasgow, has si...
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Director of the Walker Institute Prof Ros Cornforth had this to say: “One of the biggest barriers to making the...
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Posted on behalf of Chloe Brimicombe and Nerea Ferrando, PhD students in the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science. For all of th...
Friday, May 15, 2020
Over the continent of Africa there has been very little research on heatwaves, and the majority of research that does exist focuses on the Western Sah...
Monday, May 18, 2020
On Wednesday 13th May 2020, Dr Grady Walker, a Senior Research Fellow working at the Walker Institute and School of Agriculture Policy and Development...
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
HyCRISTAL implemented projects on urban WASH systems, rural livelihoods, WRM and lake transport infrastructure
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
HyCRISTALs four projects in Kenya focused on urban WASH systems, rural livelihoods, tea production, and lake transport infrastructure
Monday, July 6, 2020
Building on our MoU with the Sygenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) signed in July 2019, we are thrilled to announce the start of a new...
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
My name is Montserrat Méndez-Buvandel, I am a Mexican master’s degree student who had the fortune to do a short-term stay abroad in the Walker Institu...
Friday, July 17, 2020
Coronavirus WHO COVID -19 Situational Report – 16 July Coronavirus global report: restrictions return around world as cases pass 13 million ...
Monday, July 20, 2020
Stella Akia has been a presenter and news anchor on ETOP FM, the most popular Ateso language radio station in Uganda, for 15 years. Between October 20...
Friday, July 24, 2020
Coronavirus (COVID-19) WHO COVID-19 Situation Report – 23 July Global COVID-19 cases now total over 15 million Coronavirus: WHO reports record single...
Monday, July 27, 2020
We are excited to share the Future Climate for Africa (FCFA) Country and Research Consortium Briefs. A collection of briefs providing a summary of the...
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
Today marks the launch of an UPGro short film, highlighting the potential of groundwater for Sub-Saharan Africa, the challenges and opportunities of g...
Sunday, August 2, 2020
On the launch of the UPGro Film, we drill down deeper into the Farmer Voice Radio methodology used in the BRAVE project. For the last 7 years, the Wa...
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 UNDRR Sendai Hazards Report Launched International Science Council Hazard Definition & Class...
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (‘the Sendai Framework’) was one of three landmark agreements adopted by the United Nations...
Friday, August 7, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 6 August Coronavirus: Mexico's death toll becomes world's third highest Austral...
Friday, August 14, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 13 August Coronavirus: Global cases surpass 20 million, but experts belie...
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Posted on behalf of Chloe Brimicombe, a PhD Student at the Walker Institute Over 2020, a group of 25 young people, aged 18 to 30 have been learning a...
Thursday, August 20, 2020
On August 12th, Dr Grady Walker, a Senior Research Fellow working at the Walker Institute and School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, published...
Friday, August 21, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 21 August Australia Young people want better disaster education after Black Su...
Friday, August 28, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 28th August India coronavirus: Covid strikes remote Greater Andamanese tribe ...
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
A recent article, published by The Guardian, suggests that the August heatwave experienced in the UK may have been overhyped. So is this the case? No,...
Monday, September 7, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 4th September Global coronavirus cases exceed 25 million India leads global ri...
Friday, September 11, 2020
WHO Guidance on Research Methods for Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management As the world and its population face ever-increasing challenges ...
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
We are delighted to announce that data from the newest member of the Rainwatch Alliance – Meteorological Services Department of Zimbabwe – has been in...
Friday, September 18, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 17th September Covid-19: New fear grips Europe as cases top 30m worldwide Br...
Friday, September 25, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 25th September Australia At least 25 whales dead and more than 200 stranded ...
Monday, October 5, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 2nd October Coronavirus: Global Covid-19 death toll passes one million Bangl...
Monday, October 12, 2020
Today, the Walker Academy launched its latest online course: Learning to Co-Produce (L2CP). The three-month course, for post-graduate meteorological s...
Friday, October 9, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 9th October Brazil Covid: Brazil's coronavirus cases pass five million Canad...
Friday, October 16, 2020
Coronavirus WHO Coronavirus disease (COVID -19) Situational Report – 16th October Australia Great Barrier Reef has lost half of its corals since...
Monday, December 7, 2020
Alex Kwang is a student at St Paul's School in London who, during lockdown, started a self-led project on predicting extreme rainfall events in Rwanda...
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Adaptive Social Protection (ASP) aims to combine climate adaptation, disaster resilience and social protection measures into one integrated system. Do...
Monday, December 7, 2020
The global food system is facing multiple shocks, from pandemics to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change. At the s...
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
We are pleased to announce that a new online programme featuring the Walker Institute's work – Adapting for Tomorrow's Environment – has been launched...
Monday, December 14, 2020
We are pleased to announce that the final stage of data collection for the National-scale Impact-based Forecasting of Flood Risk in Uganda (NIMFRU) pr...
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
With the COP26 climate summit having been postponed until 2021, young climate activists stepped in to fill the void. Young people from around the worl...
Monday, December 21, 2020
James Fallon, a PhD student at the University of Reading's Department of Meteorology, posted an excellent recap of the recent Mock COP youth climate...
Thursday, February 18, 2021
Dr Grady Walker, Senior Research Officer at the Walker Institute, recently published a paper in the International Journal of Qualitative Methods (IJQ...
Monday, March 8, 2021
Walker Institute Researcher and Impact Officer, Luisa Ciampi, recently completed a PhD studying the impact of gender on the effectiveness of agricultu...
Monday, March 8, 2021
Assessing Livelihood Vulnerability to Extreme Shocks (ALiVE) Already-vulnerable communities are facing multiple shocks, from pandemics to extreme weat...
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Welcome to the Walker Update, bringing you up to speed with the latest news and developments from the Walker Institute. We’re trying something new thi...
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Welcome to the Walker Update, bringing you up to speed with the latest news and developments from the Walker Institute and the wider environme...
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
This article was originally posted on the Science for Humanitarian Emergencies and Resilience (SHEAR) blog, HERE. What is co-production? Early warning...
Friday, May 14, 2021
Week-long conference brings together leading scientists, government ministers and experts from around the world to set the agenda ahead of the United ...
Monday, June 21, 2021
Welcome to the Walker Update, bringing you up to speed with the latest developments from the Walker Institute and the wider climate resilience field. ...
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
While women are at risk of feeling that they need to stay at home, societal pressures can lead men to take greater risks during a natural disaster A g...
Monday, July 26, 2021
Welcome to the Walker Update, bringing you up to speed with the latest developments from the Walker Institute and the wider climate science field. We’...
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
Professor Rosalind Cornforth, Dr Celia Petty and Dr Grady Walker from the University of Reading Walker Institute describe the chapter they contributed...
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
About the course The Walker Institute has partnered with the University's Online Courses team to develop a new FutureLearn course due to launch on 13 ...
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the Walker Update, bringing you up to speed with the latest developments from the Walker Institute and the wider climate s...
Thursday, September 9, 2021
With the clock ticking down to COP26 later this year, the Walker Institute has hosted a video panel discussion on net zero targets and their place in ...
Thursday, September 9, 2021
Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the Walker Update, bringing you up to speed with the latest developments from the Walker Institute and the wider climate s...
Thursday, September 16, 2021
In the run-up to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow in November 2021, UKRI is holding a series of onl...
