Towards Healthy Brazil: Sustainable Urban Nexus (Water-Energy-Sanitation) in the Tiete River Basin

The UK-Brazil Reseacher Link workshop “Towards Healthy Brazil: Sustainable Urban Nexus (Water-Energy-Sanitation) in the Tiete River Basin” highlights the need for sustainable infrasystems in dense urban environments (SDG12); reduce health risks associated with the lack of appropriate infrastructure (SDG3) enhance the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all (SDG6) ensuring access to affordable, reliable sustainable and modern energy (SDG7) building resilient infrastructure and cities (SDG9, SDG11).

Infrastructural systems (infrasystems) are entangled with social, technical and ecological systems at smaller and larger scales. How they are planned, implemented, managed, maintained and used has impact on sustainability outcomes. The transformation of national infrastructures, although usually implemented with the aim to improve human well-being, may carry adverse implications for human health, social relations and environmental sustainability. Yet, there is a lack of systematic and integrated evidence on the sustainability outcomes of transitions in infrasystems.

Transdisciplinary activities will involve non-academic stakeholders (e.g. policy-makers, government and others within the public, private and third sectors). They will be designed to build an interdisciplinary foundation towards informing decision making processes.

Workshop outcomes will have the potential to benefit research communities with interest in infrasystem transitions, in rapidly urbanising Brazil and cross-cutting themes. They will facilitate informed decision making in the near future and, in the long term, improve the lives of millions of people who rely on the provision of and access to sustainable urban infrasystems.

The UK-Brazil Researcher Link Workshop took place online 19 July 2021 – 23 July 2021