Our information-packed and engaging sessions will cover a range of timely topics on the science, engineering & management of water. A good opportunity to discuss and engage with our academics on current water challenges and learn more about Cranfield’s leading edge research to address the challenges facing the water sector and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goal for water and sanitation.
Each session, scheduled between 12:00 - 13:00, is free to attend.
To help us manage attendance levels, please complete our online registration form here.
2023 programme
Lunch and Learn Session 1 (5th June 2023)
12:00 - 13:00
Coagulation for Phosphorus Removal
Professor Bruce Jefferson - Professor of Water Engineering
Details of this session TBC.
Lunch and Learn Session 2 – (6th June 2023)
12:00 - 13:00
Beyond COVID – The Importance of Water and Hygiene in Public Health
Dr May Sule - Lecturer in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Public health within the context of water, sanitation and hygiene contributes to reducing the causes of ill-health and improving people's health and wellbeing by protecting them through the provision of effective, efficient and accessible interventions. In this session, we will introduce and explain the role of water, sanitation and hygiene (handwashing) beyond diarrhoea, and with regard to disease emergence, combatting COVID-19 and in preparing for future pandemics.
Lunch and Learn Session 3 (7th June 2023)
12:00 - 13:00
Container Based Sanitation
Dr Alison Parker - Senior Lecturer in International Water and Sanitation
Currently millions of people around the world rely on pit latrines for their sanitation but these are technically difficult and unhygienic to empty. An alternative being trialled by enterprises in six cities across the world is Contained Based Sanitation where households have a toilet with a small detachable container that can be emptied weekly. This lecture will report from these trials with some of their successes and the ongoing challenges.
Lunch and Learn Session 4 (9th June 2023)
12:00 - 13:00
Water Quality in Rivers: How Bad is it Really?
Dr Robert Grabowski - Senior Lecturer in Catchment Science
The ‘shocking state’ of English rivers has been decried in public media and a House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee report. Not a single river is at good ecological and chemical status. In this talk, we will introduce how quality is assessed for rivers and the scientific evidence for changes in quality over time, both positive and negative.
Lunch and Learn Session 5 (13th June 2023)
12:00 - 13:00
A Tricky Trilemma – Reconciling Water for Food Production, with Increasing Drought Risks and Demands for Environmental Protection
Professor Jerry Knox - Professor of Agricultural Water Management
Recent droughts in the UK, Europe and internationally have highlighted the severe limitations on freshwater supplies for agriculture to produce sufficient crops to meet the food demands for a growing global population, whilst simultaneously protecting environmental flows. But increasing competition and demands for water supplies between different sectors coupled with increased climate variability and drought risks will only exacerbate the current situation. This presentation and discussion will focus on understanding how these competing tensions are playing out, what options are available and what trade-offs will be required to ensure we don’t eat ourselves out of water.
