Institute of Development Studies

Biography

Alan Nicol is a Research Fellow in the KNOTS team specialising in water and sanitation and water resources management. He has over 15 years of professional experience leading policy-related research programmes, including three years in Ethiopia directing a DFID-funded RPC. His major fields of interest and experience are water and climate change, the political economy of policy and programming at all levels and links between water, livelihoods and poverty reduction. In recent years he has been focusing on water and regional integration issues, transboundary water resources management and issues of global water governance.

Alan is also a member of the Water Justice Programme

Selected Projects and Recent Work

• Flows and Practices: The Politics of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Africa
• Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability (STEPS) Centre

Thematic Expertise

Climate Change; Vulnerability and Resilience; Poverty; Rights; Security and Conflict; Water and Sanitation.

Geographic Expertise

Middle East and North Africa; South East Asia; Sub Saharan Africa; Egypt; Ethiopia; India; Israel; Jordan; Kenya; Palestinian Territory; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda.

Selected Publications »»

• Nicol, A. Mehta, L. and Allouche, J. (2012) ''Some for All?' Politics and Pathways in Water and Sanitation', IDS Bulletin 43.2, Brighton: IDS
• Allouche, J., Nicol, A. and Mehta, L. (2011) 'Water Security: towards the human securitization of water?', The Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations No 1.Vol 12:153 - 171
• Nicol, A. and Kaur, N. (2009) 'Adapting to Climate Change in the Water Sector', ODI Background Notes , London: Overseas Development Institute
• Nicol, A.; Lexén, K. and van Schaik, H (2009) 'Letting off Steam: The Stockholm Message from World Water Week to the COP-15', Reviews in Environmental Science and Biotechnology 8.4:301-304
• Calow, R.C.; MacDonald, A.M.; Nicol, A.L. and Robins, N.S. (2009) 'Ground Water Security and Drought in Africa: Linking Availability, Access, and Demand', Ground Water 48.2:246-256
• Welle, K.; Tucker, J.; Nicol, A. and Evans, B. (2009) 'Is Water Lagging Behind on Aid Effectiveness? Lessons from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Uganda', Water Alternatives 2.3:297-314
• Nicol, A. and Kaur, N. (2008) 'Climate Change: Getting Adaptation Right', ODI Opinion 116, London: Overseas Development Institute
• Nicol, A. and Mtisi, S. (2008) 'Stakeholders in Benefit Sharing and the Management Process' in Sadoff, C.; Greiber, T.; Smith, M. and Bergkamp, G. (eds), SHARE – Lessons in the Management of Trans-Boundary Water Resources, Geneva: International Union for Conservation of Nature
• Nicol, A.; Ariyabandu, R. and Mtisis, S. (2006) 'Water as a Productive Resource: Governance for Equity and Poverty Reduction', Occasional Paper, Human Development Report , UNDP
• Welle, K.; Nicol, A. and van Steenbergen, F. (2006) 'Harmonisation and Alignment in Water Sector Programme and Initiatives' , Copenhagen: Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA)
• Mehta, L., Movik, S., Nicol, A. and Mtisi, S. (2005) 'A 'Blue Revolution' for African Agriculture?', IDS Bulletin 36.2, Brighton: IDS
• Mtisi, S. and Nicol, A. (2003) 'Caught in the Act: New Stakeholders, Decentralisation and Water Management Processes in Zimbabwe', SLSA Research Paper 14, Brighton: IDS
• Nicol, A. and Mtisi, S. (2003) 'The Politics of Water Policy: A Southern Africa Example', SLSA Research Paper 20, Brighton: IDS
• Mtisi, S. and Nicol, A. (2003) 'Water Points and Water Policies: Decentralisation and Community Management in Sangwe Communal Area, Zimbabwe', IDS Bulletin 34.3, Brighton: IDS
• Nicol, A. (2003) 'The Dynamics of River Basin Cooperation: The Nile and the Okavango Basins' in Turton, A.; Ashton, P. and Cloete, E. (eds), Transboundary Rivers, Sovereignty and Development: Hydropolitical Drivers in the Okavango River, Pretoria: African Water Issues Research Unit (AWIRU)