On 4 May 2012, Professor Arjen Hoekstra from the University of Twente will be awarded an honorary doctorate from the Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iaşi in Romania. The degree is in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the field of integrated water management and sustainable development. The Executive Board of the University of Twente would like to extend its heartfelt congratulations to Professor Hoekstra.
The honorary doctorate will be presented on the morning of Friday 4 May 2012. Professor Carmen Teodosiu, Vice-Rector for Research, will fulfil the role of honorary supervisor. The Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iaşi is the leading university in the field of Environmental Engineering in Romania.
“Integrated water management is a new policy area for emerging economies in countries such as Brazil, India and Romania. Since these countries are only just beginning to explore the wide range of different choices, they are looking to take their lead from the best examples around the globe. And the Netherlands leads the way in the field of water management," says Arjen Hoekstra. The university in Romania contacted Prof. Hoekstra for further information on this field of research. This led to two Romanian PhD students being invited to conduct their research at the University of Twente, which caught the avid interest of Prof. Carmen Teodosiu.
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Arjen Hoekstra is Professor in Water Management at the University of Twente, specialising in water resources management, watershed management, policy analysis, systems analysis and the science of sustainable development.
Hoekstra studied at Delft University of Technology, where he obtained an MSc in Civil Engineering with distinction, and a PhD in policy analysis. He has experience in various academic environments both in the Netherlands and abroad. Having visited over fifty countries around the world, he has developed a wide international network over the years. He has also led and participated in a wide range of interdisciplinary research projects and applied his knowledge and expertise to a variety of different fields: including the environmental and earth sciences, engineering and economics, anthropology and policy studies. Prof. Hoekstra also designed the water footprint and developed the interdisciplinary field of the Water Footprint Assessment, which is concerned with the relationships between water management, consumption, production and trade. See also www.waterfootprint.org. He is a founding member of the Water Footprint Network.
Arjen Hoekstra also lectures in several different fields, including: water resources management, management of river basins and coastal areas, hydrology and water quality, sustainable development, valuation of natural resources, environmental systems analysis and policy analysis. He has developed a range of different educational tools for his teaching purposes, such as the River Basin game, the Globalization of Water game and e-learning modules relating to the water footprint. His scholarly publications include a wide range of topics, such as water scarcity, flood management and sustainable development and consist of a large number of peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His works include Perspectives on Water (International Books, 1998), Globalization of Water (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008) and The Water Footprint Assessment Manual (Earthscan, 2011). His research forms part of the Institute of Governance Studies.
