ISP Events

Dr. Stephen Gasteyer, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Participatory Governance?: Associations, Districts, and the Localization of a Global Water Crisis

International development organizations have embraced the notion of community and basin level management of water resources through water users associations or other community management initiatives. The notion has been that by building community level capacity, water supply, sanitation, and water sustainability could be improved through the processes of democratic decision making (including, critically, the empowerment of women), and the leveraging of human capital for water infrastructure maintenance at the local level.  This presentation will interrogate the extent to which these initiatives have contributed to improved water availability, sanitation, and sustainability, especially in the context of  efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals.   The presenter will draw from field visits in Africa and the Middle East in arguing that local capacity alone is likely insufficient to manage the complexities of water issues.  He will discuss initiatives to provide a social infrastructure of technical assistance, including building the capacity to access financing and other critical external resources as a way to improve water sustainability.