Purpose
The Foundation for Water Research (FWR) is an independent community of professionals from across the water sector and related scientific specialisms. The community comes together for deliberative discussion to support the development of interdisciplinary solutions to water challenges.
The FWR Community provides guidance and strategic thought leadership for the IES’s water activities, and collaborates with the wider IES family on issues related to land, air and policy implementation.
Approach
The community champions a systems approach to ensure that water solutions are holistic and multifunctional.
We do this by:
- Convening cross-sector working groups to address water challenges
- Reviewing the relevant scientific evidence, techniques and technologies, and their applications in the water environment
- Linking water challenges to related specialisms, such as ecology and land condition
- Developing interdisciplinary solutions
- Supporting best practice by publishing guidance and thought leadership, and developing training for water professionals
- Building strategic partnerships with key stakeholders in the water sector
- Raising public awareness of water challenges and potential solutions.
Our history
FWR was a membership body founded in 1989 with a mission to educate the public in science, engineering and the management of water.
It was created due to the privatisation of the Water Research Centre (WRC). A key aim of FWR was to facilitate connections between FWR members, the water industry and the newly created WRC for the duration of a five-year Core Research Programme. In addition, FWR commissioned research at universities and laboratories.
In 2001 FWR became a registered charity, concentrating on education and knowledge transfer, moving away from funding research projects.
FWR has a strong publications catalogue including the Reviews of Current Knowledge (RoCKs), the Urban Pollution Management (UPM) Manual and An Inspector’s Guide to Sewerage.
In 2022 the FWR joined the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES) family.
