School of Geography and the Environment

Safa Fanaian’s DPhil research focuses on the understanding and mapping governance of water-related risks faced by growing riverine cities in the global south, and specifically those in the intermediate category (<1million population). The case of Guwahati and its rivers are explored, as it is an emblem of urbanization on the Brahmaputra River. Particular focus is given to risk of inadequate water supply, wastewater/sewage released into rivers, and urban floods.

Safa is currently an Oxford-Indira Gandhi Scholar at the Oxford-India Centre for Sustainable Development, Somerville College. She is also the recipient of a National Geographic Explorer grant.

Prior to her DPhil, Safa worked for more than seven years with various development agencies to improve water security in South Asia. She has an MSc in Water Management from IHE-Delft, Institute for Water Education, Netherlands and an MSc in Ecology and Environmental Science from Pondicherry University, India.

Journal Articles

• Fanaian, S. (2018) Politics and boundaries: the complexities of transboundary river governance in South Asia. Commentary 3 - SAWAS, 8(1).
• Gallagher, L., Laflaive, X., Zaeske, A., Brown, C., Lange, G., Ahlroth, S., Castaneda, J., Fanaian, S., Joyce, J., Kamar, E., Bahri, A. and Miralles-Wilhelm, F. (2016) Embracing Risk, Uncertainty and Water Allocation Reform When Planning for Green Growth. Aquatic Procedia, 6: 23-29.
• Fanaian, S., Graas, S., Jiang, Y. and van der Zaag, P. (2015) An ecological economic assessment of flow regimes in a hydropower dominated river basin: The case of the lower Zambezi River, Mozambique. Science of the Total Environment, 505: 464-473.

Book Chapters

• Gulati, V., Deka, A., Fanaian, S., Vij, S. and Barua, A. (2017) Building bridges through dialogue for the Brahmaputra River Basin. Chapter 9 in, Zhang, H. and Li, M. (eds.) China and Transboundary Water Politics in Asia. Routledge, London. 20 pp. ISBN: 9781315162973.
• Ramachandrudu, M.V., Fanaian, S. and Naidu, S. (2013) Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP): Understanding Governance in Rural WASH Sector. Chapter 12 in, Reddy, R.V., Fonseca, C. and Batchelor, C.H. (eds.) Sustainable Water and Sanitation Services: The Life-Cycle Cost Approach to Planning and Management. Routledge, Abingdon. pp. 252-268. ISBN: 9780415828185.

Reports

• Fauconnier, I., Jenniskens, A., Perry, P., Fanaian, S., Sen, S., Sinha, V. and Witmer, L. (2018) Women as change-makers in the governance of shared waters. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN, viii + 50pp.
• Maskara, M. and Fanaian, S. (2017) Arsenic Risks: Access to Safe Drinking Water. Geography and You.. 61-63.
• Fanaian, S., Deka, A. and Gulati, V. (2016) Towards transboundary River Governance: Brahmaputra Dialogue Initiative. ENVIS Newsletter, Himalayan Water Resources - Transboundary Challenges and Opportunities, 13(3)

Recent Blog Posts

• Fanaian, S. (2019) ‘Cities and Rivers: The Policy Challenges of Water Management.’ Global dev Post.
• Fanaian, S. (2019) ‘Risking Cities and Rivers: What are the Pathways Towards Resilience?’ in southasiadisasters.net facilitated by All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, Making Humanitarian Response more Flexible: Exploring New Models and Approaches, no. 181.