Saskia Nowicki: Wholesome Water

Saskia Nowicki is a research associate in environmental systems science from the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Saskia works on water quality and uses systems thinking methods to work towards more wholesome water for both people and ecosystems more broadly. In this interview, she discusses where her work has taken her and what she believes are some of the key obstacles for universal access to safe drinking water for all. She reflects on progress towards meeting SDG target 6.1 and on the potential of improved service delivery models, which focus on the wholesomeness of water in addition to improving supply reliability.

This interview is one of four, featuring special guest researchers from across the globe. The guests visited Canberra in June 2024, attending the ‘Sharing, Listening, Reflecting and Creating’ workshop. In these interview highlights, they offer insights into how they navigate the complex, practical realities of their work, such as managing competing interests of various stakeholders and overcoming shortfalls in data collection. The guests share what they’ve learned from their research projects abroad and finally, we’ll take a look at how we’re tracking to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6, ‘ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’.

Interviews by Safa Fanaian.