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The UMR Water Management, Stakeholders, and Uses brings together 90 permanent researchers and engineers and about 50 doctoral and postdoctoral students from all disciplines, working together on issues related to integrated and adaptive water management. It conducts research on the trajectories of socio-hydrosystems and their regulation; it contributes to the design and evaluation of tools that facilitate the implementation of innovative public policies regarding water; and it participates in multidisciplinary training for students in the field of water. The UMR G-EAU, affiliated with I-Site MUSE, is a member of ICIREWARD, a Category 2 Center under the auspices of UNESCO on water in Montpellier. The core of the UMR G-EAU’s mission is to understand how socio-hydrosystems function, both under normal conditions and during periods of crisis or high stress (water scarcity, flooding, pollution). We analyze the hydrological, technical, social, economic, and political processes within a water-related territory and their consequences. We also leverage our interdisciplinary strength to analyze the combined effects of these processes and, ultimately, identify opportunities for governance and adaptation in complex and uncertain environments. The project includes the design and testing—in collaboration with society—of tools and mechanisms aimed at revealing how these systems function and influencing their trajectory. Originating from teams working on irrigated systems, the UMR G-EAU has gradually broadened its focus toward integrated management. It now approaches water-related regions as complex systems by drawing on a variety of perspectives: A diversity of uses and interests: irrigation, drinking water, recreation, energy, wastewater treatment, flood protection A diversity of water types: surface water, groundwater, wastewater A variety of processes: water and pollutant transfers, irrigation technologies, economic instruments, public participation, and modes of appropriation A variety of regulatory approaches: river and canal infrastructure, water access and land-use policies, and standards governing water use. A variety of disciplines For all of this research, the UMR G-EAU emphasizes approaches grounded in case studies. This means a commitment to research based on field observations, supplemented by experimental approaches conducted in collaboration with users and/or managers. To build upon the knowledge generated in this way, the UMR relies on a broad network of partners and research sites around the world—in France and in countries of the Global South—that present a diversity of water-related challenges and hydro-ecological, socio-economic, and political contexts. One-third of the staff are stationed abroad in the Maghreb, West and Southern Africa, and Southeast Asia. In France, collaboration agreements bring us closer to institutions responsible for watershed management. This on-the-ground involvement leads to strong interactions with stakeholders. Finally, the UMR G-EAU is committed to disseminating its findings. Three approaches are used for this purpose: Testing the proposed techniques and tools with local institutions; Training students in the North through the Water Master’s program in Montpellier and engineering schools affiliated with the UMR (Montpellier SupAgro and AgroParisTech), and in the South through Master’s programs offered by our host partners; Hosting partner companies, particularly startups. Designation: Joint Research Unit ( Research , UMR) Primary Affiliations: CIRAD - IRD - INRAE - AgroParisTech - Institut Agro - BRGM Secondary supervising institution: UMP Research cluster: Agriculture-Environment-Biodiversity (AEB) Doctoral schools: EDEG: Economics and Management - GAIA: Biodiversity, Agriculture, Food, Environment, Land, Water Website