Bill Cosgrove

William (Bill) Cosgrove joined IIASA’s Water (WAT) Program as a Senior Research Scholar in March 2012. His initial work has been related to the integration of the next phases of a world water scenarios project into IIASA’s Water Program.

Cosgrove received his B.Eng. and M.Eng. (sanitary engineering) and Honorary Doctorate of Science from McGill University and is an Honorary Fellow of UNESCO-IHE. He has followed other graduate courses in economics, management and cross-cultural studies at McGill and Georgetown Universities and the Harvard Business School. He is Manager of the World Water Scenarios Project of the UN World Water Assessment Program, a member of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Think Tank on Water and the Future of Humanity, and of several professional associations including the Association of Professional Futurists.

Cosgrove is a former Vice President of the World Bank, Past-president of the World Water Council and served as Chairman of the International Steering Committee of the Dialogue on Water and Climate. He wrote the terms of reference for, and was a founding member of the Global Water Partnership. From 2005-2008 he was President of the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement in Quebec. He was Content Coordinator for the 3rd edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report (2009) and Senior Adviser for the 4th edition (2012).

Often sought as a speaker on water issues, his many publications include the World Water Vision: Making Water Everybody's Business, and Water Security and Peace: A Synthesis of Studies prepared for UNESCO under the PCCP-Water for Peace Process. He also was author of ‘Public Participation to Promote Water Ethics and Transparency’ in Water and Ethics and ‘Water for Growth and Security’ in World Water Crisis: Myth or Reality?

Last update: 06-NOV-2012