Ordinary Academicians
Professor Tortajada has 25 years of research, teaching and consulting experience in water, environment and natural resources management and their interlinkages. She is an expert on development studies, cooperation and governance. She is advisor of several international and national organisations and development agencies, governments and development banks such as UNDP, UNEP, FAO, Canada International Development Research Center (IDRC), World Bank, Asian Development Bank, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Inter-American Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Inter-American Institute for Cooperation of Agriculture (IICA), InWEnt Capacity Building International (now GIZ); as well as for national and state governments in Spain (Aragon), Germany (Berlin), Brazil, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Gujarat (India), Mexico, Sri Lanka and Turkey. Competencies also extend to collaborations with the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations; Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Nippon Foundation, Japan; Majlis El-Hassan Foundation, Jordan; Singapore International Water Week; Stockholm International Water Institute, Stockholm; and multinational corporations like Nestlé.
Most important awards, prizes and academies
Honoris Causa, Aalto University, Finland (2024). 50th Anniversary Award, International Water Resources Association (2021). Professor in Practice, Environmental Innovation, School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, UK (2020–2024). Member of the International Selection Committee, Millennium Technology Prize, Finland (2020). Crystal Drop Award, International Water Resources Association (2016). Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Water Policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Singapore (2014–2020). President, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico (2012–2014). President, International Water Resources Association (2007–2009). Research Director, International Centre for Water and Environment (CIAMA), Zaragoza, Spain (2006–2011). Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Technology on Water Resources Management (2001), Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Books:
Sachdeva, P. K., Biswas, A. K., Tortajada, C., Arora, O., Leneveu, E., Adamjee, R., and Sharma, A. (2023). Off-Grid Water Supply. Should It Be Mainstreamed? Singapore: Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-99-4060-8. Ong, C., Tortajada, C., and Arora, O. (2023). Urban Water Demand Management: A Guidebook for ASEAN. Singapore: Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-19-8677-2. Biswas, A. K., and Tortajada, C. (Eds). (2022). Water Security Under Climate Change. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5493-0. Tortajada, C., and Araral, E. (Eds.). (2022). Global Water Resources: Festschrift in Honour of Asit K. Biswas. Abingdon: Routledge. Biswas, A. K., Sachdeva, P., and Tortajada, C. (2021). Phnom Penh Water Story: Remarkable Transformation of an Urban Water Utility. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4065-7. Kumar, M. D., and Tortajada, C. (2020). Assessing Wastewater Management in India. Singapore: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2396-0. Tortajada, C., Horne, J., and Harrington, L. (Eds.). (2020). Urban Resilience to Droughts and Floods: The Role of Policies and Governance. London: Routledge.
Papers in referred journals:
Byrne, P., Biles, E., Cui, L., Williams, R., Faustino-Eslava, D. V., Quick, L., Casa, M., Gonzalvo, F. I., Regalado, M. R., Cabrera, K. N., Fenio, K. F., Padrones, J., Guotana, J. M., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Vasilopoulos, G., Coulthard, T. J., Tortajada, C., Villanueva-Peyraube, J. D., Sevilla-Nastor, J. B., Domingo, J. P., and Megson, D. (2025). Forever but not everywhere? Unexpected non-detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in major Philippines rivers. River, 4(1)29–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/rvr2.70002. Tortajada, C., Radcliffe, J. C., van Rensburg, P., and González-Gómez, F. (2025). Sustainable water reuse for water security. Environmental Research Letters, 20(2), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/adaf46. Hossain, A. M. M., Hossain, S., and Tortajada, C. (2025). A systematic review of progress in food security research and implications for achievement of the UN’s zero-hunger goal in Bangladesh. Environmental Research: Food Systems, 2(1), 015003. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2976-601X/ad93dc. Grafton, R. Q., Fanaian, S., Horne, J., Katic, P., Ringler, C., Robin, L., Talbot-Jones, J., Wheeler, S., Wyrwoll, P., Avarado, F., Biswas, A., Borgomeo, E., Brouwer, R., Coombes, P., Costanza, R., Hope, R., Kompas, T., Kubiszewski, I., Manero, A., Martins, R., McDonnell, R., Nguyen, M., Nikolakis, W., Rollason, R., Samnakay, N., Scanlon, B., Svensson, J., Thiam, D., Tortajada, C., Wang, Y., and Williams, J. (2024). Rethinking responses to the world’s water crises. Nature Sustainability, 8, 11–21. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01470-z. Gupta M., Biswas, R., Kumar, A., and Tortajada, C. (2024). Consideration of water policies in the urban development plans of Delhi: A collaborative planning perspective. River, 3(3), 228–244. https://doi.org/10.1002/rvr2.94. Domingo, J. P. T., Jenkin, G. R. T., Quick, L., Williams, R. D., Hudson-Edwards, K. A., Tortajada, C., Byrne, P., Coulthard, T. J., Padrones, J. T., Crane, R., Gibaga, C. R. L., Vasilopoulos, G., Tungpalan, K., Samaniego, J. O., Biles, E., Tanciongco, A. M., Chambers, J. E., Quimado, M. O., Bautista, A. T., Gonzalvo, F. I. P., ... Arcilla, C. A. (2024). Sustainable mining in tropical, biodiverse landscapes: Environmental challenges and opportunities in the archipelagic Philippines. Journal of Cleaner Production, 468, 143114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143114. Tortajada, C. (2024). Reused water as a source of clean water and energy. Nature Water, 2, 102–103. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00198-6. Evaristo, J., Jameel, Y., Tortajada, C., Wang, R. Y., Horne, J., Neukrug, H., Primo, C. D., Fasnacht, A. M., Ziegler, A. D., and Biswas, A. (2023). Water woes: the institutional challenges in achieving SDG 6. Sustainable Earth Reviews, 6(13), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42055-023-00067-2. Biswas, A. K., and Tortajada, C. (2023). Hydropower in the energy transition and managing extreme hydrological events in China. The International Journal on Hydropower and Dams, 5, 92–98. Tortajada, C., and Arreguín, F. (2023). Preparedness for drought is more than a climate-change fix. Nature Correspondence, 619(7968), 34. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02134-2. Grafton, Q. R., Biswas, A. K., Bosch, H., Fanaian, S., Gupta, J., Revi, A., Sami, N., and Tortajada, C. (2023). Goals, progress and priorities from Mar del Plata in 1977 to New York in 2023. Nature Water, 1(3), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00041-4. Cruz Ayala, M. B., Tortajada, C. (2023). Managed aquifer recharge in Mexico: Proposals for an improved legal framework and public policies. Water International, 48(1), 165–183. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2022.2132668.