Interdisciplinary Water Research Network Building within Nordic and Baltic Countries / Tvärvetenskaplig nätverksbyggande inom nordisk och baltisk vattenforskning
Viable Water Management and Governance for Futures (VIWAFU), a professional network for international and interdisciplinary collaboration amongst researchers from the Nordic and Baltic countries, was built for providing and sharing knowledge on water management and governance for future policy and decision making during the years 2012–2014. VIWAFU organized four workshops for MSc students, PhD students, and postdocs, focusing on different topics, e.g. water services management, water supply infrastructure, innovative water strategies, and water management in tourist areas. In top of the seminar themes, the students discussed and practiced communication – orally in small and big groups, and as written communication aimed at appealing to diverse readers. The communication was challenging because of cultural differences, but also because of the diverse disciplinary backgrounds of the participants. Altogether, the VIWAFU seminars were successful in creating a strong network between coming researchers from Nordic and Baltic countries. Hopefully this will lead to a tighter cooperation within water-related research around the Baltic Sea in the future.