Marleen van Rijswick receives the KWR 2023 Honorary Fellowship for her dedication to the fundamental right to water

Professor Marleen van Rijswick is the head of the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, which is affiliated with Utrecht University. This centre is known for its research into water and sustainability issues in the Netherlands and internationally. The researcher has worked with KWR for more than a decade, and she was awarded her Honorary Fellowship because of the accessible way she speaks out about the fundamental right to water. In addition, Van Rijswick demonstrates the unifying power of legislation and regulations, something that is urgently needed to move ahead towards a healthy and sustainable water and soil system.

The right array of instruments

“When you talk about the role of law in protecting water, you will see how it makes people nervous sometimes”, says Van Rijswick. “That’s because the law in discussions about protecting water often focuses on barriers. For example, will the Netherlands be brought to a standstill because of the Water Framework Directive? Or will there be legal proceedings? That’s not what it should be about. We need to talk about why it’s important to protect our sources. Governments and drinking water utilities have responsibilities in that respect. Then there are legal instruments that are meant to be used in the public interest. For example, permits for an activity somewhere, or charges levied for pollution. But drinking water utilities and governments work with different instruments. So you need to look for the right mix. You have to protect water as a component of human health but also as a part of nature. And here, the law can sometimes be seen as awkward. But the law is more than that. It is also a safeguard. It’s nice to know that you can walk into the kitchen whenever you like and drink water without worrying. So we need to explain that water is a single system. That you can’t have healthy drinking water if there isn’t enough clean water and if the sources of drinking water aren’t protected.”

“Marleen van Rijswick demonstrates how legislation acts as a catalyst for a more sustainable society, with water law serving as the bridge between scientific knowledge and practice.”

Mariëlle van der Zouwen, directeur a.i. KWR

Law as a link

Van Rijswick is a living example of how legislation and regulations can play a unifying role. “For a long time, I have been trying to engage with other disciplines to move together towards sustainable water and soil systems. If you look at what legislation and regulations are meant to achieve, the process begins with a public debate and a democratic process. We talk to each other about what we want to protect, and how. Once there is agreement about those goals, you write that down in regulations and get to work. In effect, the law is the link between scientific knowledge and what people do. I always find it very satisfying to look for these ways to work with other people because, when it goes well, you can achieve concrete results. But my work on establishing connections is not clear to see. So it’s special to receive this award from KWR. Someone noticed after all!”

Welcome outsider

When Van Rijswick is asked what she thought when she heard about the Honorary Fellowship, she says that – as a lawyer – she did not see it coming. “But I feel welcome. I have immense admiration for the type of research KWR does. The quality of the work is also excellent and that’s extremely important to me. I need to be able to have complete confidence in the expertise of researchers to think in greater depth about, for example, how the law can contribute to protecting water quality. Of course, I can read the articles published by the researchers. But that doesn’t work. So my mission is to engage in discussions with each other, ask each other questions and understand the added value of everyone’s input. From the perspective of my discipline, I look at the risks and boundary conditions that determine where you can seek solutions. It is precisely the demarcation of those frameworks and working out where there are misunderstandings about the law that is absolutely essential.”

‘The dike reeve’s prayer’

The range of topics Van Rijswick plans to address as an Honorary Fellow in the time to come is long and diverse. “The right to water is about more than human beings and it goes beyond the here and now,” she says. “We must also ensure that future generations have enough healthy water.” To illustrate her point, the researcher quotes the ‘dike reeve’s prayer’: ‘Give us this day our daily bread, and a flood now and then…’ It is an exhortation to take a deep breath now and to think about what is important to focus on. Van Rijswick believes that the concept of flooding needs to be enriched given the times we live in. “We are also faced with pollution, biodiversity loss, water availability for everyone, and much more. These are all themes that KWR is working on as well.” Van Rijswick looks forward to continuing her dialogue with the people at KWR and the joint search for solutions. “We already got along well; I think that has become even easier now.”

Marleen van Rijswick receives the crystal plaque from Mariëlle van der Zouwen.

Marleen van Rijswick at the plaque with the inscription ‘For tirelessly contributing to the fundamental right to healthy water for people and nature’.

Van Rijswick: ‘We must protect water intrinsically, also for its own sake’.

A representation of the Honorary Fellows and the management team of KWR were present at the ceremony.

Mariëlle van der Zouwen and Marleen van Rijswick.

KWR Honorary Fellowship

Since 2015, KWR has annually awarded an Honorary Fellowship to individuals who contribute to the research community and society in KWR’s network, both nationally and internationally. Marleen van Rijswick leads the growing list for the prestigious appointment, after Rita Ugarelli (2022), Luc Keustermans (2021), Marion Koopmans (2020), Harry Seah (2019), Ad van Wijk (2018), Willy Verstraete (2017), Joan Rose (2016) and Martien den Blanken (2015).

KWR appoints Honorary Fellows for life. With their peers who have received the same award, Honorary Fellows are a source of knowledge, expertise and experience for KWR.