Margarida Costa

The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA; www.niva.no) is a national research institute organized as a private foundation. The institute is Norway’s leading competence center for environmental and resource issues relating to the field of water. NIVA carries out research, monitoring, innovation, and development work. NIVA is vital in water resources management as a provider of research-based studies and advisory services on water-related issues. NIVA’s broad scope of competence, research expertise, and extensive data collections represent an important resource for Norwegian business activities and industries, public administration on a municipal, regional and national level, and Norwegian international interests. NIVA has more than 300 employees, of which >80% are water researchers. NIVA’s headquarter is in Oslo; there are 4 regional offices and a large-scale marine research station. In addition to the foundation itself, the NIVA Group consists of the research and consultancy companies Akvaplan-niva and NIVA Chile as well as the development firm NIVA-tech AS with subsidiaries BallastTech-NIVA and NIVA China.