The Western Australian chapter of the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) will commence its task of assessing the impacts of climate change and stormwater management on local wetlands and urban environments after being officially opened by State Minister for Water, Bill Marmion.

 

The University of Western Australia, Monash University and the University of Queensland will cooperatively lead the 9-year, $120 million research project, which has already established 32 projects with an allocated budget of $50 million.

 

The Perth Research Hub, which will oversee the operation of the CRC in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, will be based at UWA and led by Associate Professor Anas Ghadouani, from the University's School of Environmental Systems Engineering.

 

"What we will learn from this research centre will be important to ensuring Western Australia and Australia as a whole adapts its urban design to address the pressures of population growth and becomes more resilient to the impacts of climate change," UWA's Associate Professor Anas Ghadouani said.

 

"This is an exciting and unique initiative, linking researchers and a wide range of industries, to ultimately change to the way we think about designing our cities and towns in Australia."

 

The aim of CRC-WSC is to revolutionise water management by delivering urban water policies, socio-technical solutions, and education and training programs along with active engagement with industry and community.  A significant proportion of its resources will be devoted to ensuring the rapid adoption of research findings by stakeholders such as local government.