Ajaya Dixit is the Executive Director of ISET-Nepal a non-governmental and not-for-profit organisation and a think tank. It primarily studies and analyses developmental issues of rapidly changing social and environmental context that demand new insights into the emerging challenges to manage resources for sustainable development. After obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering, he began to teach Water Engineering at the Institute of Engineering in Tribhuvan University. In addition to this, he also began engaging in other areas that were more multi-disciplinary in nature. However, around the mid-1980s, he came to realise that the technical focus of his work was limiting. All his professional work focused on design, development, operation and management of water systems, but these designs often did not encompass the institutional, social and ecological dimensions of water that are central to determining productivity, acceptability and sustainability. In fact, while the science of water flow and the application of technology were fairly established, these other aspects remained poorly addressed. Thus, gradually, he began to study these social and natural dimensions as well.