Abstract
This paper tours briefly through the challenges of global water and the inter-related big issues (such as, population, resource depletion and climate change) and then explores water in the UK in relation to those same issues whilst juxtaposed with other big UK issues such as current economics, spatial planning, infrastructure, food and energy. This paper calls for a new literacy that recognises that …at every level the greatest obstacle to transforming the world is that we lack the clarity and imagination to conceive that it could be different [Roberto Unger, a Brazilian philosopher]. It is therefore proposed that a more urgent, and certainly more radical, basis for addressing UK issues is needed within the context of the global landscape. Things simply need to be done differently by calling on government, on the sector and on CIWEM to each play its part. And, it is a part that they must play: …The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it [Robert Swan the first person to walk to both Poles]. Ultimately though, it will be politicians who will decide and …it is fair to say that trust in politicians is not something the public has in abundance [Edward Davey, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]. This paper concludes with a demand for serious and coherent leadership, from government, from the sector, from CIWEM and, importantly, from each of us.
