Members of the interim Bureau

• Francesco Sindico, Co-chair

Francesco Sindico is a Professor of International Environmental Law at the University of Strathclyde Law School in Glasgow, Scotland. As a consultant and through a secondment he has collaborated with the Scottish Government Islands Team working on island governance and climate change related projects. He now heads from the University of Strathclyde the Secretariat of the European Islands Policy Network, that brings together island policy officials from Scotland, Ireland, Finland and Croatia. Francesco’s work and research has focused on Scottish islands, but he has also been working on matters relevant for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from a public international law perspective, and from a climate change law angle. Within IWRA, he has led the International Scientific Committee of the First and Second Edition of the Islands Water Congress and co-leads the Islands and Water Task Force.

• Alana Mahabir

Alana S. Mahabir (PhD Candidate, Civil Engineering) is Head of the Water Resources Agency (WRA) at the Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. She provides strategic oversight and technical guidance for national water-resources management, with a strong emphasis on policy and regulatory strengthening. Her portfolio includes advancing abstraction licensing and administrative fee reform, supporting inter-agency water–climate coordination, and representing WRA in regional and international capacity-building initiatives. Alana also serves as Trinidad and Tobago’s national counterpart on isotope hydrology, applying environmental isotopes to protect groundwater and identify sustainable sources for national supply. Her PhD at The University of the West Indies centres on underserved rural communities, generating actionable evidence on rainwater harvesting governance to advance water equity, strengthen climate resilience in Small Island Developing States, and share transferable lessons globally through practical, field-informed research.

• Pamela Katic

Pamela Katic is an Associate Professor in Economics at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK. She was previously based at the West Africa Office of the International Water Management Institute. Pamela is an environmental and water economist whose work focuses on water governance, justice, and sustainability at the interface of development, ecology, and society. Her research advances relational and transdisciplinary approaches that integrate Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge systems, multiple values of water, and nature-based solutions to address water and food insecurity and injustice(s) and socio-ecological vulnerability. She has extensive experience working in climate-exposed and data-scarce contexts, mobilising and co-creating knowledge to inform just water, food, and ecosystem governance. This work is directly relevant for SIDS and island Indigenous communities, where water systems are deeply embedded in cultural heritage, livelihoods, and wellbeing, and are increasingly threatened by climate change, environmental degradation, and structural inequities. Within IWRA, Pamela is an Associate Editor of Water International, IWRA’s flagship publication.

• Celso Garcia

Celso García serves as Professor of Physical Geography at the University of the Balearic Islands in Mallorca, Spain. His research focuses on the Balearic and Canary Islands, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between tourism development and water sustainability. Additional research areas encompass surface and groundwater hydrology, managed aquifer recharge, social perceptions of flood risk and flood management strategies, and integrated water resource management in island environments.

• Manuel Sapiano

Mr Sapiano is a hydrogeologist, with specific specialisation in island and coastal hydrology. He has been involved in the water sector since 1997 working for the Water Services Corporation (Malta’s national public water utility), the Malta Resources Authority (the regulatory authority for energy and water resources) and the Energy and Water Agency since 2013. He took the role of Chief Executive Officer for the Agency between 2018 and 2025. From a water management perspective during this period, he had the responsibility of coordinating the implementation process of EU related water legislation in the Maltese islands (including the Water Framework Directive, the Groundwater Water Directive and the Floods Directive), and hence directly involved in the development of Malta’s River Basin Management Plans.  At a European Level, Mr Sapiano has followed in the implementation process of the EU Water Framework Directive since 2002, where within the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) of this Directive (led by the European Commission), he fulfilled the role of Water Director for Malta between 2013 and 2025. He also represented Malta on several EU CIS Working Groups including those on Water Reuse (co-chair), Groundwater (co-chair), Programmes of Measures and the Ad hoc Task Group on Water Scarcity and Droughts.  Mr Sapiano works with Rizorsi Agrikoli Malta (RAM) within Malta’s Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights (MAFA), focusing on the management of water resources in the agricultural sector. He also acts as a Senior Advisor to the Global Water Partnership – Mediterranean (GWP-Med) and sits on the scientific board of the Mediterranean Water Institute (IME).