Asim Zia

Director
Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security
United States

Nov 17, 2020

Asim Zia is a professor in the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics at the University of Vermont, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Computer Science. He works on issues of environmental policy, global governance, and transboundary water diplomacy and cooperation, and conducting integrated assessments and complex systems modeling on the impacts of climate change on watersheds and water systems. At the University of Vermont, Asim is also Director of the Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security and a founding Co-Director of the Social Ecological Gaming and Simulation Lab. Asim has a diverse education, earning a B.A. in Philosophy and Mass Communications and a M.A. in Philosophy from the University of the Punjab at Lahore, Pakistan, and his Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was recently appointed as a Fulbright Global Scholar (July 2020-June 2022) to lead a project on “Securing Clean Water in Transboundary Indus, Jordan and Amazon Basins through Science and Environmental Diplomacy.”

Asim's work at the University of Vermont focused on issues of environmental diplomacy and security. This work has examined the ways in which clean water in diverse transboundary regions—including the Indus, Jordan, Mekong and Amazon Basins—can be achieved through Track II and Track III diplomacy. Asim emphasizes the importance of community involvement in co-production and co-design of knowledge and cooperation mechanisms: "It's crucial to engage local communities through Track III diplomacy and bring it together with Track II scientific diplomacy." In the Indus Basin, a region mired in ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India on the one hand, and between Afghanistan and Pakistan on the other hand, Asim has worked on developing diplomacy interventions and citizen science mechanisms. He is currently working in the Jordan River context with the Arava Institute on conducting water quality monitoring and assessments and evaluating the current state of water quality early warning systems. He also helped to develop the Transboundary Water In-Cooperation Network (TWIN), a network of grassroots organizations, academic and scientific institutions, and individuals working on issues of water access and sustainable management of water. This focus on diplomacy and the relationship between communities and policy interventions has also inspired work on climate justice, and Asim is currently working on a book that critiques the ways in which countries have responded to and acted upon the Paris Climate Agreement.

Asim's work draws on computational models to explore how big data can be used for public good. His recent work with students at the University of Vermont, funded by the National Science Foundation, looked at pollution and water quality challenges in transboundary water systems between the United States and Canada. Drawing on computational methods, Asim suggests that a potential important venue for big data is in developing early warning/early action systems for food shortage and climate change. He explains, "It's important to understand how to take this information and make it available to policymakers to minimize potential and future risks." By deploying quantitative computational systems in service of cooperation and peacebuilding, Asim contributes new ways of thinking about how computational and quantitative methodologies can be used to address future challenges and conflicts over resources.

Bringing this work to the Environmental Peacebuilding Association, Asim is involved in both the Water Interest Group and new Big Data Interest Group. He describes the importance of an action-oriented theory of environmental peacebuilding: “Environmental peacebuilding plays an important role in bringing about peace through active mediation and conflict resolution. It represents the convergence of different fields of inquiry – international development, environmental conservation, peacebuilding – and that convergence can bring about real change.” As an active member of the Association, Asim will continue to pursue action-oriented environmental diplomacy and explore the possibilities for harnessing big data and artificial intelligence for greater environmental protection and cooperation over resources.