Creating Space for Water Collaboration with Henk Ovink

In this episode, host Veena Srinivasan speaks with Henk Ovink who is often called the world’s first “Water Diplomat” for a deep and wide-ranging conversation on trust, global cooperation, imagined redundancy, and the future of water governance around the world.

Henk Ovink, joins host Veena Srinivasan on Season 2, Episode 9 of the Water Data Podcast. 

Henk has had an extraordinary career shaping water diplomacy and resilience - from serving as the Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, to leading Rebuild by Design under President Obama after Hurricane Sandy, to co-chairing the Global Commission on the Economics of Water. He is also the Chair of the Board at IWMI.

In this episode, they discuss why trust is the foundation for any collective action and why “everything moves at the speed of trust.” Drawing from his experiences such as Rebuild by Design in the US, Water as Leverage in Asia, and global water negotiations at the UN, Henk illustrates how durable, community-owned solutions emerge.

The conversation highlights how the Global Commission on the Economics of Water reframed the hydrological cycle, equity, and valuation for policymakers worldwide

The Water Data Podcast is a talk show on the science, systems, and stories of water hosted by Veena Srinivasan. 

For all references and further readings related to the episode, visit https://welllabs.org/wdp-henk-ovink/

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Recording by Vraj Acharya, Nanditha Gogate and Pavan Srinath. Video editing by Vraj Acharya. Graphics and artwork by Aparna Nambiar. Audio mixing and mastering by Vijay Doiphode. Podcast production and management by Nabina Chakraborty and Pavan Srinath.

Chapters

• 0:00 Highlights
• 1:40 Introduction
• 3:06 Origins of a Global Water Diplomat
• 7:39 Moving from Private Sector to Public Water Leadership
• 10:21 Trust and collaboration in Climate Resilience
• 16:15 Rebuild by Design: Inside the Process
• 25:36 Room for the river
• 27:00 Like, Share and Subscribe to The WELL Labs Youtube Channel
• 27:21 Can Trust-Building & Collaboration Be Taught?
• 35:10 Building a Global Water Agenda
• 46:07 Check out the video episode
• 46:21 Water as Leverage: Urban Resilience in Asia
• 54:56 The Global Commission on the Economics of Water Explained
• 1:01:49 Global Hydrological Cycle
• 1:07:00 Road to UN Water Conferences 2026 & 2028
• 1:11:18 Advice for Young Water, Climate & Policy Professionals
• 1:12:14 Outro