Lisa Münch is working as research fellow at the Environmental Policy Research Centre at Freie Universität Berlin.

India is the world largest groundwater user in the world and an increasing number of aquifers reach unsustainable level of exploitation. At the same time, India is still a net exporter of crops to other continents. Against this background Lisa´s main interest during her two-month stay in India was to explore the level of awareness of virtual water flows and if and how water footprint assessment is used as a water management tool in India. In this respect actor´s perception on the water footprint labeling approach and its potential effects on water management practices in India was also of interest to her.

She undertook studies at TERI, conducted interviews with relevant experts in academia, business and civil society and visited the “Water & Society Conference” of the International Water Management Institute. With her research she aims to contribute to the ongoing debate of the potentials and restraints of virtual water/water footprint labeling as a tool for sustainable water management.