The Nile - particularly the Blue Nile shared by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia - is one of the international rivers usually described as on the verge of a “water war”, as a consequence of competing claims and concurrent project of water exploitation by the riparian countries. Open Water Diplomacy Lab aims at reversing this narrative, by boosting the role of science and communication as catalyst for cooperation and peace. The project, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Global partnership for Water and Development, aims at studying the role of the media and science in transboundary waters negotiations, as well as at building journalists and researchers capacities on water science communication. Journalists and researchers from different Nile basin countries will be trained together and will be supported to co-produce original knowledge on Nile waters, in a way that facilitate mutual understanding between riparian countries and cooperation on transboundary water resources.
