Dr Oliver Hensengerth

Oliver works at the intersection of international relations and international development. Having been trained as a political scientist, Oliver’s work is interdisciplinary. He has been collaborating closely with colleagues from engineering, physical and human geography, or sociology in projects funded by the British Academy, GCRF, Newton Fund, and others. He has published extensively in international high impact journals in the areas of environmental and water governance.

Oliver's research rests on two pillars: firstly, the rise of China in global development, with a focus on Chinese investment in water infrastructure such as hydropower in countries of the global South; and secondly water governance, including transboundary water cooperation, water-energy-food nexus, floods and droughts, and hydropower. Conceptually, he is interested in questions of environmental justice, relationships between water and identity, multilevel governance, and governance across scales.

Oliver is currently a co-investigator in the GCRF Research Hub Living Deltas, led by Newcastle University (2019-2024). Recently expired projects include: British Academy Asia-Pacific ClimateScapes: Exploring Opportunities, Challenges and Trade-offs toward Just Transitions for Decarbonisation, led by Northumbria University (2021-2022); British Council COP26 Trilateral Research Initiative Integrated Strategies for Water Resources Risk Management in the ASEAN Region under Climate Uncertainty: A Needs Assessment, led by Southampton University (2021-2022); Newton-NERC Viet Nam: Slow Onset Hazard Interactions with Enhanced Drought and Flood Extremes in an At-Risk Mega Delta, led by Southampton University (2019-2021).

Oliver is currently supervising two PhD students in the above areas. He has also functioned as an external examiner for PhD theses at UK universities and abroad and regularly peer reviews articles in international journals.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Effect of planning policies on land use dynamics and livelihood opportunities under global environmental change: Evidence from the Mekong Delta, Berchoux, T., Hutton, C., Hensengerth, O., Voepel , H., Tri, V., Vu, P., Hung, N., Parsons, D., Darby, S. 29 May 2023, In: Land Use Policy
• Asia-Pacific ClimateScapes: Exploring opportunities, challenges and trade-offs toward just transitions for decarbonisation, Howson, P., Astuti, R., Hensengerth, O., Kindon, S. 22 Jun 2022
• Youth participation in environmental action in Vietnam: learning citizenship in liminal spaces, Beckwith, L., Baillie Smith, M., Hensengerth, O., Nguyen, H., Greru, C., Warrington, S., Nguyen, T., Smith, G., Minh, T., Nguyen, L., Woolner, P. 13 Oct 2022, In: The Geographical Journal
• Stakeholder Expectations of Future Policy Implementation Compared to Formal Policy Trajectories: Scenarios for Agricultural Food Systems in the Mekong Delta, Hutton, C., Hensengerth, O., Berchoux, T., Tri, V., Tong, T., Hung, N., Voelpel, H., Darby, S., Bui, D., Bui, T., Huy, N., Parsons, D. 15 May 2021, In: Sustainability
• Scalar water politics and competing development visions in China’s transboundary Himalayan river basins: what role for international water law?, Hensengerth, O. 1 Oct 2020, In: Journal of Water Law
• Emerging environmental multi-level governance in China? Environmental protests, public participation and local institution-building, Hensengerth, O., Lu, Y. 1 Apr 2019, In: Public Policy and Administration
• Governing the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Related to Hydropower on Shared Rivers—The Role of Regional Organizations, Dombrowsky, I., Hensengerth, O. 18 Dec 2018, In: Frontiers in Environmental Science
• South-South technology transfer: who benefits? A case study of the Chinese-built Bui dam in Ghana, Hensengerth, O. Mar 2018, In: Energy Policy
• China’s Investment in African Hydropower: How to Govern the Water-Energy-Nexus? Evidence from the Bui Dam in Ghana, Hensengerth, O. 31 Aug 2017, Chinese Hydropower Development in Africa and Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Global Dam-Building, Abingdon, Taylor & Francis
• Place Attachment and Community Resistance: Evidence from the Cheay Areng and Lower Sesan 2 Dams in Cambodia, Hensengerth, O. 8 Sep 2017, Water Governance and Collective Action:, Abingdon, Taylor & Francis

• Benita Siloko Human security, livelihoods and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta Region, Nigeria. Start Date: 01/10/2019
• Angelica Ribichini A Critical Intersectional Analysis of Youth Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta Start Date: 18/01/2021
• April McAlpine Finding the Fountain: Neoliberalism and the possibility of alternatives for water provision in Tamil Nadu Start Date: 12/03/2014
• Gabriele Giovannini THE IMPACT OF MULTINATIONAL TRANSBOUNDARY INFRASTRUCTURES (MTIs) ON THE RELATIONAL POWER OF SMALL STATES: A CASE STUDY OF LAOS Start Date: 12/09/2014 End Date: 11/04/2018

• International Politics PhD September 01 2006
• Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2014

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Northumbria Centre for International Development