image: Combined UNU-INWEH and PLOS logo
Credit: UNU-INWEH and PLOS, CC-BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
PLOS is delighted to announce a new collaboration between United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and PLOS Water: a collection of papers focusing on policy-relevant, science-based solutions.
With the 2026 United Nations (UN) Water Conference and 2028 UN Water Conference on the horizon, this collaboration aims to place research at the forefront of the UN Water meetings, and better integrate the work of academic, scientific, and policy communities. The collection will feature a series of invited narrative-style Opinion and Essay articles as well as research papers in PLOS Water, on key themes related to the UN Water conference and beyond. There is an open call for submission of relevant primary research papers to the collection, especially those which have the potential to translate into impactful policy for people and planet.
This collaborative series, entitled “A New Era for Water: Policy-Relevant Research for Solutions”, aims to advance research and policy responses fit for a world that has entered the era of Global Water Bankruptcy. It builds on the UNU-INWEH report “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era,” calling for “honest, science-based adaptation to a new reality.”
This is a critical period for the water sector, and there is a need to build and sustain momentum in the lead-up to several major global meetings in which water is a central pillar. In addition to the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit and the World Water Forum will both occur in 2027. Additionally, 2028 is the conclusion of the Water Action Decade.
To nurture this momentum, it is essential to hear from a diversity of the brightest voices who can spotlight the most urgent challenges and showcase the most innovative ideas in the water sector in a ways relevant for policy makers. This collection aims to do exactly this, and to house this thought leadership in one easy-to-locate, open-access, searchable location.
The work will challenge the status quo, make calls to action from within and across disciplines, sectors, and communities, and create a vision for how water research can translate into transformative policy and practice. In so doing, PLOS and INU-INWEH seek to create sustainable and lasting impact through intellectual stewardship.
Achieving SDG 6, “clean water and sanitation for all” is essential for the health of people and the planet. Progress towards this goal must come from a joint multi-lateral and multi-sectoral endeavor, and a place of solidarity and cooperation. Technical, political, financial, and public efforts in isolation will not be sufficient. Connected and collaborative cross-disciplinary communities are imperative.
Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of UNU-INWEH, notes: “The challenge of water bankruptcy cannot be solved by science alone. It requires turning knowledge into policy and policy into action. Through our partnership with PLOS Water, we are fostering a stronger bridge between research, decision-making and practice, ensuring that diverse voices help shape global water agendas at the 2026 and 2028 UN Water Conferences and beyond.”
Professor Sera Young, co-Editor-in-Chief of PLOS Water and Anthropologist at Northwestern University, adds: “This collaboration with UNU-INWEH, the UN’s think tank for water, and PLOS Water is a tremendous opportunity for researchers from any background to publish their work in a forum that can feed directly into the policymaking process.”
Professor Pierre Horwitz, co-Editor-in-Chief of PLOS Water and Emeritus Professor at Edith Cowan University describes the collaboration as “Exciting: an invitational space for the arts, humanities, and sciences, publishing global and place-based water-focused materials; transcending boundaries for policy and practice."
This collection is intended to complement the existing UN Water Conference Academic Hub, a UN-Water initiative co-led by UNU, UNESCO and UNITAR.
About PLOS
PLOS is a non-profit organization on a mission to drive open science forward with measurable, meaningful change in research publishing, policy, and practice. We believe in a better future where science is open to all, for all.
Building on a strong legacy of pioneering innovation, PLOS continues to be a catalyst in open science, reimagining models to meet open science principles, removing barriers and promoting inclusion in knowledge creation and sharing, and publishing research outputs that enable everyone to learn from, reuse, and build upon scientific knowledge.
About UNU-INWEH
Marking its 30th anniversary of operation in 2026, the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is one of 13 institutions that make up the United Nations University (UNU), the academic arm of the UN. Known as 'The UN's Think Tank on Water', UNU-INWEH addresses critical water, environmental, and health challenges around the world. Through research, training, capacity development, and knowledge dissemination, the institute contributes to solving pressing global sustainability and human security issues of concern to the UN and its Member States. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, UNU-INWEH has been hosted and supported by the Government of Canada since 1996. With a global mandate and extensive partnerships across UN entities, international organizations, and governments, UNU-INWEH leads UNU Hubs in Calgary, Hamburg, New York, Lund and Pretoria.