Together the partners address the full spectrum of the issues in the water sector both in education and research. The specific collaborative research of the Partnership is evolving into a coherent framework of four key strategic themes:

1. integrated management of water supply and sanitation,
2. sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems and land use,
3. water allocation and decision processes in river basins, and
4. mitigation and adaptation for climate change.

These themes cover complementary areas that encompass the range of urgent water-related challenges that developing countries face, and are typically nested while moving from local (water and sanitation) to increasing spatial scale (watersheds, river basins, the globe).

All research activities have a capacity building and research training dimension, and practically all are conducted in partnership with local knowledge institutions.  Research is carried out in the form of staff research, PhD research and MSc research in as much as possibly an integrated, mutually supporting context. Most of the research is application oriented, with feedback to policy makers and stakeholders. Some research adopts action research methodologies where researchers and research subjects jointly experiment with technology and actively monitor impacts and results.

The water and sanitation agenda to halve the proportion of people without adequate services by 2015 is progressing far too slow. The water supply and sanitation sector is in urgent need of institutional and financial reform to meet the rightful demand for adequate and reliable services. An appropriate framework is required for further progress. The concept of integrated urban water cycle management (IUWC) represents such a framework, covering all aspects of interaction of resources, infrastructure systems and environment and includes all other non-technical aspects related to freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems.

The technical component of the IUWC approach requires the perspective of a single water resources pool within a watershed. While classic organisations have failed to provide adequate water and sanitation services, natural systems can provide both (low cost) treatment as well as (subsurface or surface) storage of renovated water and wastewater. More research is needed to demonstrate the viability of indirect potable reuse within a managed semi-closed urban water cycle. A related challenge is about how to address peri-urban areas, small towns and villages beyond the periphery of centralized pipe systems - if at all available - in terms of implementing (complementary) decentralized or even individual water/wastewater systems.

The governance component of the integrated cycle recognizes the need for increased political support in particular for sanitation, for the required upscaling of sanitation to meet the MDG goals, and for the increased efficacy and sustainability through financial and institutional reform.

This thematic area focuses on the ecological functioning of rivers, watersheds and associated wetlands, the goods and services they provide, and the balance between consumptive use of water resources and their protection, in order to achieve poverty alleviation in a sustainable manner. The typical spatial scale at which these issues are investigated is the watershed. Environmental flow requirements are assessed and ecosystems goods and services valued. Soil and water conservation for rainfed agriculture, sustainable land use practices and watershed management are investigated. Ways of enhancing the resilience of farming systems against climate shocks are investigated jointly with farmers in action-research. New institutional forms that aim to strengthen the productive linkages within catchment areas receive special attention. Concepts such as the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) are scrutinised.

This thematic area comprises the multidisciplinary field of water governance and focuses on the increasing complexity of decision-making processes in, usually trans-boundary, river basins. This is due to increasing levels of water utilisation in the face of an emerging consensus about the ecological limits of water abstractions and the enhanced variability of rainfall due to climate change. Institutions are charged with reconciling the trade-offs between the different interests and needs for water. This theme therefore studies decision processes that seek to balance the supply and demand side of water. It aims to develop tools that can inform complex decision-processes in river basins, with a focus on up-to-date numerical modelling, optimisation techniques, policy analysis, expert systems as well as the valuation of stakeholder preferences and economic trade-off analysis. This focus is complemented by a more sociological perspective that studies processes of public participation and social interaction between interested parties, acknowledging that decisions require buy-in by those affected by it, and that mediation and facilitation may be needed in difficult win-loose dilemmas, when basic entitlements are at stake. Where hydrological and administrative units do not coincide (which appears to be the default case) the transboundary aspect needs to be considered, which may complicate decision-processes and may require concerted efforts for dispute prevention, negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution.

Recent climate change studies indicate that many developing countries lie in regions that are both sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and consequent impacts on water resources are likely to be severe. Climate change impacts are often also amplified by other pressures on the natural resources such as rapid population growth and land use change. However, the impacts of climate change and other global changes on hydrological processes and water resources (including floods and droughts) are poorly understood. Solutions promoted to mitigate climate change include the production of renewable energy sources, such as biofuels. The impacts on water and environment at different spatio-temporal scales require detailed investigations, and need to be incorporated in environmental policies. Research activities will be developed along four lines: floods, droughts, forecasting, and biofuels. Seeking new ways of assessing and managing risks associated with water related hazards (floods and droughts) is urgently required.

With respect to droughts, emphasis will be on technologies for drought proofing of water systems. Special attention will be given to the need to make rainfed farming systems more resilient to droughts, through improved soil and rainwater conservation, as well as supplementary irrigation in rainfed agriculture and the need for enhanced but distributed water storage. These strategies will translate into enhanced resilience of livelihoods in the face of climate change. This research will typically entail action research with small-scale producers, who may host experiments and who are actively engaged in evaluation of results, as for example has been achieved in the "Smallholder system innovations in integrated watershed management" project (SSI).