Bas Leijser

President of INCOSE Netherlands and a Contract Manager at Waterschap Rijn en IJssel

Global Water Scarcity as a Systems Engineering Challenge

Bio.
Bas Leijser is President of INCOSE Netherlands and a Contract Manager at Waterschap Rijn en IJssel. After earning his MSc in Water Engineering and Management from the University of Twente, he worked in systems engineering and contract and project management roles across various sectors, including nuclear, government, healthcare, energy, and infrastructure. Water management has always remained a passion, so in that sense, he is now back where he started.

Abstract.
Water scarcity is often managed as a local or national issue, even though consumption in one part of the world can drive water use and pollution elsewhere. Goods traded internationally carry a hidden water footprint: the water consumed or polluted during their production. European imports of Brazilian soy, for example, connect European consumption to water use in Brazil.Global freshwater use continues to grow, driven mainly by socioeconomic development and changing consumption patterns, while climate change alters water availability and increases variability. Yet water governance remains largely organised around national or river-basin boundaries, even when important dependencies extend across global supply chains.Drawing on my MSc research at the University of Twente, this presentation explores global water scarcity through the concepts of the water footprint and virtual water trade. It explores how game theory, stakeholder analysis, and systems thinking can reveal interdependencies and feedback loops. The central argument is that water scarcity, although experienced locally, is increasingly shaped by global production and consumption systems. Systems engineering can help prevent local optimisation and support more coherent international water governance.