Oliver M. Brandes

Co-Director of the Centre for Global Studies’ POLIS Project on Ecological Governance, UVic

Oliver M. Brandes is an economist and lawyer by training and a trans-disciplinarian by design. At POLIS, he also leads the Water Sustainability Project. His work focuses on water sustainability, sound resource management, public policy development, and ecologically based legal and institutional reform. Oliver serves as the Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships and Public Policy at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Global Studies. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law and School of Public Administration, and is a fellow of the Environmental Law Centre. In 2012, he co-developed B.C.’s first water law course at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law. He also has affiliations at the University of Manitoba and Brock University. Oliver is a founding member of the national Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW), which he currently co-chairs, and is an advisor to numerous national, provincial, and local water organizations, governments, and funders. He is currently a technical advisor to the B.C. Ministry of Environment, supporting the ongoing development of the provincial Water Sustainability Act.