Transdisciplinary Learning Communities to Involve Vulnerable Social Groups in Solving Complex Water-Related Problems in Bolivia

Water

Marc Craps¹  Afnan Agramont²  Melina Balderrama³  Marijke Huysmans⁴ 

[1] KU Leuven, 1000 Brussels, Belgium;Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo and Vrije Universiteit Brussel, La Paz 15000, Bolivia;Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo, La Paz 15000, Bolivia;Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering, 1050 Brussels, Belgium;

关键词: transdisciplinary learning;    water governance;    integrated water resource management;    collaborative learning;    knowledge co-production;    river basin management policy;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w11020385

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Bolivia has influenced the international water arenas as a pioneer of the Human Water Rights Declaration before the United Nations General Council. However, despite a positive but rather ideological evolution, the country is still facing several water challenges in practice. Water governance is extremely complex due to intricate social structures, important spatial and temporal differences in the availability of water resources, ecological fragility, and weak institutions. A Transdisciplinary Learning Community approach has been adopted by the Universidad Católica Boliviana to take into account the complexity of the water problems caused by social, hydrological, and ecological system imbalances. In this approach, researchers and non-academic actors work closely together to integrate different ways of conceiving, using, valuing, and deciding on water issues. The approach aims at co-creating resilient solutions by recovering and restoring not only the ecological system, but also the social system in which all actors are aware of their role and responsibility. We explain the challenges and concerns raised by this approach in a case study of the Katari River Basin (KRB), which is impacted by a high degree of contamination that is mainly caused while crossing El Alto city, leading to dramatic consequences for the Lake Titicaca ecosystem and its surrounding communities.

【 授权许可】

Unknown