Often when water is thought about, the focus is on problems, challenges, and crises. In November 2012, a group of researchers came together at Queen’s University with the idea that it is more illuminating and constructive to think about water as an opportunity. Water as a Social Opportunity conveys the idea that the ways in which society responds to water-related challenges has the potential to yield a variety of positive outcomes not just for water, or the economy, but for society more broadly. Contributors consider water issues across Canada from this original perspective, and suggest this concept as a basis for developing a long-overdue national water strategy in Canada.

Seanna L. Davidson completed her PhD in geography at the University of Waterloo with the Water Policy and Governance Group, and spent two years working with the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience.

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Jamie Linton is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Queen’s University and a fellow at the Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy.

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Warren E. Mabee is an associate professor in the Department of Geography at Queen’s University, Canada Research Chair in Renewable Energy Development and Implementation, and director of the Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy

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“With a refreshing outlook on a challenging and timely subject, this collection provides diverse critical analyses of water governance issues from a Canadian context, and a comprehensive picture of water as an opportunity to build relationships and change our ways of thinking. We are called upon to be inspired and transformed by water, in order to make a better future – together.” The Goose, A Journal of Arts, Environment, and Culture in Canada