Kaveh Madani

The 2016 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists is awarded to Kaveh Madani for his fundamental contributions to integrating game-theory and decision-analysis into water management models.

Kaveh Madani’s work spans the areas of hydrology, water engineering, systems analysis, economics and social behaviour and he is among the most active and recognised members of the European hydrological sciences community.

His outstanding contributions stem from the pioneering argument that traditional water management models suffer inherently from the assumption that water resources management decisions are based on group rationality. Based on this argument, he proposed to employ game theoretic, economic, operations research and conflict resolution concepts that incorporate the effects of stakeholders’ incentives and behaviour into water management models, yielding a new research direction.

The research questions he addresses are creative, provocative and socially meaningful. What further distinguishes Madani is his success in bridging the gap between academic theory and practice and his ability in communicating not only with other researchers but also with the public, to raise awareness around key environmental issues.

He is highly respected in the field for his strong leadership in community-building activities and for serving as an indefatigable promoter of initiatives that raise the profile of the water resources community.