About the CRCWSC
The Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC) was established in July 2012. Its purpose is to help change the way we design, build and manage our cities and towns by valuing the contribution water makes to economic development and growth, our quality of life, and the ecosystems of which cities are a part.
The CRCWSC is an Australian research centre that brings together many disciplines, world-renowned subject matter experts, and industry thought leaders who want to revolutionise urban water management in Australia and overseas.
Why do we need water sensitive cities?
We exist to meet three challenges that critically affect cities and towns in Australia and across the world:
- population growth and changes in lifestyle and values;
- climate change and climatic variability; and
- challenging economic conditions.
Our vision
We envision future cities and towns, and their regions, to be sustainable, resilient, productive and liveable.
To deliver this, our mission is to:
- research interdisciplinary responses to water problems;
- synthesise diverse research outputs into practical solutions; and
- influence policy, regulation, and practice to promote adoption.
Our industry end users include:
- federal, state, and local governments;
- government-owned corporations, such as water corporations and utilities;
- large, privately owned companies, including the urban development sector;
- small and medium enterprises;
- training and capacity building organisations; and
- non-government and community-based organisations.
Our participants or funding investors represent many of these end users
They work with more than 150 researchers and approximately 60 PhD candidates from seven national and international universities and research organisations to generate the knowledge and on-ground solutions required to transform cities into liveable, resilient, sustainable, and productive places.
The CRCWSC is part of the Commonwealth Government’s Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) Programme, which currently supports 33 CRCs to commercialise leading-edge research taking place primarily in Australian universities and research institutions, and to produce graduates with hands-on industry experience.