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The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) provides a suite of participatory tools and analytical frameworks to improve water resource management in Latin America, with a focus on Colombia. Key examples include the use of 'Serious Games' to help stakeholders understand and plan Watershed Management and Ordering Plans (POMCA) in Campoalegre, and the application of a multidimensional poverty analysis to evaluate water access and human security. The document also highlights the Regional Water Assessment (ERA) in Colombia and advocates for the role of community journalists in raising awareness about water care and sanitation needs.

The project established a demonstration area in Guilin, China, to test climate-smart water technologies against traditional flooding irrigation. By implementing a "thin, shallow, wet, and dry" irrigation mode supported by intelligent monitoring and control devices, the project reduced irrigation water quotas from 390mm/mu to 351mm/mu while increasing late rice yields from 418kg/mu to 437kg/mu. Key technologies deployed include intelligent water level gauges, soil moisture monitors, and integrated gates for measurement and control to enable precise water resource management under climate change.

The EcoSanRes Programme, managed by the Stockholm Environment Institute from 2001 to 2010, focuses on developing sustainable sanitation systems that recycle organic waste for crop production. The programme operates through a network of regional knowledge nodes and international collaborations, such as the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, to build capacity, conduct evidence-based research, and promote pro-poor sanitation solutions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The fact sheet identifies Sub-Saharan Africa as a food shortage hotspot and proposes combining soil, water, and nutrient management—specifically through ecological sanitation—to close the yield gap and build climate resilience.

The Stockholm Environment Institute's Water Beyond Boundaries (WBB) initiative aims to evolve water planning beyond the traditional Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) paradigm. WBB focuses on three pillars: extending management beyond the immediate watershed to include global resource flows, implementing multi-scale participatory tools to address social inequalities (including gender and poverty), and integrating ecosystem needs throughout the planning process. The initiative is being tested through pilot studies in the Mekong River basin and the Magdalena River Basin, while reflecting on previous work in California.

This policy brief, produced as part of the European Commission FP7 funded MEDIATION project, evaluates Robust Decision Making (RDM) as a decision support tool for climate change adaptation. RDM focuses on identifying strategies that perform well across a wide range of plausible futures—prioritizing 'robustness' over 'optimality'—particularly in situations of 'deep uncertainty' where probabilistic data is scarce.

This report details an interdisciplinary Environmental Flows (E-Flows) assessment of the Nam Songkhram River Basin in Northeast Thailand. The study examines the critical relationship between the Mekong River mainstream and the Nam Songkhram floodplain, emphasizing how the annual 'flood pulse' sustains high aquatic biodiversity and local livelihoods. The findings highlight a transition from natural wetland habitats to simplified ecosystems dominated by agricultural land and industrial tree plantations, specifically eucalyptus. The report argues that upstream flood control infrastructure is largely futile due to the dominance of the Mekong's hydrology and recommends a holistic, multi-stakeholder approach to basin management to prevent further ecological collapse.

The SEI strategy 2025–29 focuses on three impact areas: climate transitions, nature and resources, and health and wellbeing. It introduces 'accelerating implementation' as a new strategic outcome to move faster on global goals. The institute aims to pursue innovative research on emerging topics such as critical raw materials, the sustainability of AI, and the intersection of climate transitions and international security, while strengthening its global integration as 'One SEI'.

The report details the creation of a comprehensive modeling framework for the Syr Darya River Basin, integrating the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) platform, the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) with the Next Energy Modeling system for Optimization (NEMO), and a macroeconomic model (Macro). This integrated approach allows for the simulation of complex interdependencies between water availability, energy production, and economic outcomes across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The study evaluates six thematic narratives—ranging from business-as-usual to regional cooperation and ecosystem restoration—under four climate projections (Historical, Dry, Average, and Wet). Key findings indicate that pursuing isolated national interests increases water stress, while regional cooperation and efficiency policies significantly reduce unmet irrigation demands, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and boost agricultural value added and GDP.

The document explores the difficulties of mainstreaming gender within the 'epistemologically masculine' fields of environmental science and natural resource management. Through conversations with SEI researchers, it identifies a tension between 'gender specialists'—who often face a lack of legitimacy compared to technical scientists—and women in technical roles who encounter 'testimonial injustice' and are frequently relegated to administrative tasks. The authors argue that overcoming these barriers requires moving beyond simple quantitative data (like counting people) toward a methodology that addresses power asymmetries, intersectionality, and the 'opportunity cost' of gender-unequal resource access.

The document evaluates Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), identifying successful practices such as agroforestry, mangrove rehabilitation, and circular farming. It highlights significant policy gaps in water resources and disaster risk management (DRM), alongside barriers including poverty, tenure insecurity, and a preference for 'grey' infrastructure. The study emphasizes the need for cross-sectoral coordination, innovative financing like Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), and the integration of local and indigenous knowledge to scale resilience.

The report finds that Rwanda faces significant economic costs from existing climate variability and future climate change, particularly in health, agriculture, and water sectors. It estimates that future climate change could cost Rwanda nearly 1% of its GDP annually by 2030, excluding extreme events. Adaptation costs are projected to range from $50 million to $600 million per year by 2030, depending on whether development-related needs are included. The study also identifies a low-carbon growth pathway as being in Rwanda's self-interest to avoid 'lock-in' to high-emission infrastructure and to access carbon financing.

The SEI Environmental Strategy for Myanmar (2019-2028) establishes a ten-year framework to support Myanmar in meeting its commitments to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Paris Agreement. The strategy is organized around four primary themes: water resources management and agriculture, gender, environment and development (GED), sustainable energy, and climate change, disasters and development. SEI aims to bridge science and policy through collaborative research, capacity building for state and non-state actors, and the deployment of decision-support tools. Key priorities include improving water security in the Central Dry Zone, promoting a just transition to low-carbon energy systems, and addressing gender-based inequalities in resource access and decision-making. The strategy emphasizes a partnership-led approach to foster institutional transformation and enhance community resilience against climate-induced disasters.

The document examines water scarcity in the Mekong Region, highlighting a governance structure often dominated by top-down authority and a lack of enforceable water allocation rights. It notes that urban and industrial needs are typically prioritized over agriculture, leaving vulnerable groups—particularly women and the rural poor—at higher risk. The briefing also discusses the influence of international financial institutions and political motivations on irrigation infrastructure and the projected impacts of climate change, including increased temperature and seasonal rainfall uncertainty, which threaten agricultural productivity and food security.

The report argues that water must be framed not just as a sector but as a cross-cutting enabler of social development, economic growth, and environmental integrity. It proposes a 'cross-cluster framework' that integrates three perspectives: water as a sector, an enabler, and a supporter. The authors estimate that implementing water-related SDGs would require annual global investments between US$1.25 and 2.25 trillion over 20 years, representing 1.8% to 2.5% of global GDP. Key challenges identified include systemic corruption in the water sector, a critical lack of operation and maintenance funding, and the need for a paradigm shift from donor-led to multi-stakeholder governance.

The Water Beyond Boundaries (WBB) initiative by the Stockholm Environment Institute proposes a new approach to sustainable water planning based on three pillars: early ecosystem consideration, multi-interest/scale participatory approaches, and water (tele)connections. This framework is designed to address the increasing difficulty of water management caused by growing demand and a changing climate, emphasizing the need to move beyond watershed-based planning to include impacts across countries, regions, and generations, while centering poverty alleviation and social equity.

This policy brief by Transforma provides recommendations for the recovery of Colombia's agri-food production sector following the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that the pandemic exacerbated historical vulnerabilities, such as low rural associativity and inefficient resource use, and advocates for a transition toward sustainable production systems, improved rural digitalization, and more inclusive financial mechanisms to ensure long-term food sovereignty and resilience.

The document details how a warming climate will increase the frequency and severity of heat waves and heavy precipitation in the Midwest, leading to higher mortality, infrastructure damage, and agricultural losses. It highlights specific risks to the Great Lakes shipping industry due to falling water levels and the threat to public health from water-borne diseases and combined sewer overflows in cities like Chicago and Milwaukee.

The paper argues that while current climate services effectively support daily and seasonal farming decisions, they are underutilized for transformative adaptation—long-term, systemic changes to agricultural production. A review of 253 climate-related policy documents (NDCs, NAPs, and KJWA submissions) revealed that only 2.7% describe the use of climate services for transformative planning. To address this, the author suggests that CS must shift focus toward decadal and long-term projections (up to 2050), integrate non-agricultural data (such as economic and social factors), and be tailored to the needs of policymakers and funders to identify viability thresholds for existing systems. The paper emphasizes that high-quality, tailored CS are essential to prevent developing-country governments from falling behind and to mitigate widening climate-induced inequalities.

The report identifies Ningxia as one of China's most water-stressed regions, noting that an industrial structure dominated by energy production creates a high burden due to high water consumption. It recommends improving agricultural water efficiency, integrating water resources as a restrictive factor in coal industry planning, establishing water right trading mechanisms, raising water prices and fees, and creating ecological compensation systems for mine exploitation.