A South African engineer, researcher and policy maker has been named the 2014 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate for his contributions to global and local water management.
Prof. John Briscoe is a South African native who currently lives in the United States. According to the Stockholm Water Prize Committee, Briscoe has combined world-class research with policy implementation and practice to improve the development and management of water resources as well as access to safe drinking water and sanitation. “At the end of the day, it is what happens on the ground that matters. All policies must be judged by whether they make a difference on the ground. I believe that the years I spent working at the micro level is what enables me to be an effective policy maker,” says Briscoe. More about BriscoProfessor John Briscoe completed his undergraduate studies in civil engineering at the University of Cape Town and his PhD in environmental engineering at Harvard University. He has worked in dozens of countries around the world and is currently a professor in the schools of Engineering and Applied Science, Public Health and Government at Harvard University. His focus is on educating “the next generation of specialised integrators” – people who are deeply schooled in a discipline but also know how to work across disciplines.
One of Briscoe’s accomplishments is the 2003 Water Strategy for the World Bank, which provided a new, creative and enduring benchmark for global understanding of the need for both better infrastructure and improved institutions. The strategy has had implications far beyond the water sector, helping to ensure that developing and emerging countries get a stronger voice in global governance. In 2005 Briscoe served as the World Bank Country Director in Brazil. Brazil was one of the biggest of the World Bank’s borrowers, and John Briscoe was praised for bridging the divide between sound environmental management and economic development objectives in the Amazon and other parts of this rapidly developing nation.
