Theorising the political economy of dams: towards a research agenda
The FutureDAMS working paper series is now fully underway. The latest piece is by two researchers on the project, Dr Tom Lavers and Dr Barnaby Dye. They present an overview of the literature on the politics of dams, which has been analysed from a range of disciplinary...
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Dam building by the illiberal modernisers: ideology and changing rationales in Rwanda and Tanzania
FutureDAMS has published a new working paper by Barnaby Dye: Dam building by the illiberal modernisers: ideology and changing rationales in Rwanda and Tanzania. Abstract: Dams have a prominent historical status, imagined through high-modernist ideology as the premier...
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FutureDAMS lecture series
We've been putting the finishing touches to a new FutureDAMS lecture series at The University of Manchester. Each of the lectures will be video and audio recorded, then posted here, so don't despair if you're not on campus! The first lecture features Professor Dale...
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Dam Failures Demonstrate the Need for Effective Regulation
By Barnaby Dye The Brumadinho dam collapse in Brazil has shocked the world, ranking as one of the worst hydraulic infrastructure failures. An earth-wall dam collapsed releasing run-off water from a large mine operated by Vale. 110 are confirmed dead and authorities...
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Briefing: Gender considerations in hydropower resettlement
A recently published briefing from Jamie Skinner of IIED and Director of Capacity Building at FutureDAMS examines the gender implications of resettlement following large hydropower projects. The briefing summarises the evidence, identifies best practices and...
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Floating solar on hydropower reservoirs – a low impact energy hybrid ?
By Barnaby Dye, FutureDAMS Research Associate A recent study financed by the World Bank suggests that low-cost floating solar panels could produce an equivalent amount of power at a fraction of the footprint of a large dam’s reservoir. Many developing countries have...
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Call for papers: Dams, Development and Decison-making
Call for papers: Development Studies Association Annual Meeting 2019, Milton Keynes, UK 19-21 June Deadline for abstracts: 14 January 2019 Session Title: Dams, Development & Decision-making Organizers: Pon Souvannaseng (University of Manchester); David Hulme...
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Who should carry the financial risks in large private sector financed hydropower projects?
By Judith Plummer Braeckman (CISL) and Jamie Skinner (IIED) Large hydropower projects can cost more than a billion dollars to build. For the private sector, to whom Governments are increasingly turning for infrastructure finance, this represents a significant...
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Watch: Prof Julien Harou on how to improve dam decision making
This autumn at UNESCO in Paris the International Hydropower Association held a meeting entitled ‘Improving decision-making for hydropower’. FutureDAMS Research Director Julien Harou was an invited speaker and gave the following 10 minute presentation on the...
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What’s the economic value of water stored in dams? New open access research
Researchers at the University of Manchester have developed a systems modelling approach which determines how much water managers should store across complex constellations of dams. The approach could save California alone over $100 million annually. FutureDAMS...
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