Junior Research Group "Environment and Health in Arid Regions: Dynamics of Urbanisation, Challenges of Water Resource Management and New Risks for Human Well-Being"

The Junior Research Group analyses the dynamics of coupled social-ecological systems with a specific focus on health and environment. The interdisciplinary project builds on a cooperation between the South Asia Institute, the Institute of Geography and the Institute of Public Health (now Heidelberg Institute of Global Health) at the Heidelberg Center for the Environment. The project aims at a better understanding of the challenges of water resource management and new risks for human well-being in urban settings. This requires the examination of links between water stress and health as well as challenges in governance.

Bazaar in Leh, Foto: Dr. Juliane Dame

Here, actors and power constellations must be taken into consideration, which have often been neglected. The project builds on empirical case studies of rapidly urbanising small- to medium-sized towns in arid regions of Chile and India. Based on the insights  from the in-depth case studies, the project seeks to develop holistic conceptual approaches beyond the individual disciplines for understanding dynamics at the health and environment nexus.