Safa Fanaian

Researcher - Social Science


Safa Fanaian’s work focuses on water governance and economics, utilizing participatory research methods to explore equitable decision-making processes and enable water justice. Fanaian has over a decade of prior experience collaborating with diverse development agencies and universities to enhance water security globally. She also has extensive experience building negotiations and dialogues, managing networks, conducting mixed-methods research, working with big data and facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations. Her current research interests include urban river pollution and urban water governance, learning from dialogue processes, governance and policy impact assessments, and the exploration of sustainable finance models and blue bonds for water-related initiatives.

Fanaian was an Oxford-Indira Gandhi Scholar at the Oxford-India Centre for Sustainable Development, Somerville College, University of Oxford. She is also a National Geographic Explorer.


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Latest news for Safa Fanaian

A hybrid governance model for irrigation management in Nepal

Safa Fanaian and Sumitra KC from IWMI and Santosh Kaini from the Government of Nepal explore how blending traditional and modern irrigation governance systems can enhance water management ...

Water entrepreneurship can drive solar irrigation and climate mitigation in Nepal 

Small solar pumps help individual farmers, but larger systems that serve collective fields could drive uptake and lift rural incomes across Nepal’s breadbasket, as lessons from its neighbor Indian state ...

Stakeholders in Nepal work together to enhance collective action for municipal groundwater management

The Barahathawa Municipality in southern Nepal shows how local leadership and multi-stakeholder collaboration can address complex and interconnected challenges in natural resource management ...

Latest publications by Safa Fanaian

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Opinion Piece

Rethinking water user associations to enhance women’s participation

The Australia Today | November 10th, 2025
Fanaian, Safa; Bhattacharjee, Suchiradipta; Waqar, Kanwal; KC, Sumitra
Open Access
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Journal Article

Rethinking responses to the world’s water crises

Springer | January, 2025
Grafton, R. Quentin; Fanaian, Safa; Nguyen, Nhat-Mai; Wyrwoll, Paul Robert; Coombes, Peter; Manero, Ana; Williams, John; Horne, James; Katic, Pamela; Ringler, Claudia; Robin, Libby; Talbot-Jones, Julia; Wheeler, Sarah Ann; Avarado, Fabiola; Hope, Robert; Biswas, Asit K.; Borgomeo, Edoardo; Brouwer, Roy; Costanza, Robert; Kubiszewski, Ida; Kompas, Tom; McDonnell, Rachael; Martins, Rita; Nikolakis, William; Rollason, Russell; Samnakay, Nadeem; Scanlon, Bridget R.; Svensson, Jesper; Thiam, Djiby; Tortajada, Cecilia; Wang, Yahua
Limited Access

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