Transboundary Unbound

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob D. Petersen-Perlman ◽  
Julie E. Watson ◽  
Aaron T. Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Conflict Transformation ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Water Conflict ◽  
Critical Dimensions ◽  
Conflict And Cooperation ◽  
Leverage Point ◽  
Energy Environment

This chapter calls for a new examination of the water conflict‒cooperation dialogue, beyond the traditional areas of water allocation and utilization. It calls for dialogue to incorporate two critical dimensions: (1) variability linked to climate change and the water-food-energy-environment nexus when framing parameters of water-related conflict; and (2) “unbounding” of analysis beyond political and geographical borders to include internal, regional, and global conflict and cooperation. It discusses three basins as case studies: the Nile, the Mekong, and the Aral Sea. It discusses how water conflicts are not bound to political or natural borders, or to disputes explicitly over water. Rather, it explores how resources intrinsically tied to water decisions may prompt conflict; yet, water may be a leverage point for peace, as well. It concludes by identifying relevant water-conflict transformation strategies that may be applied to use water as a nexus for peace-building.

scholarly journals Optimal Allocation of Surface Water Resources at the Provincial Level in the Uzbekistan Region of the Amudarya River Basin

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 1446
Author(s):  
Min Wang ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Ayetiguli Sidike ◽  
Liangzhong Cao ◽  
Philippe DeMaeyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
River Basin ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Optimal Allocation ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Incoming Flow ◽  
Provincial Level ◽  
Water Users

Water users in the Amudarya River Basin in Uzbekistan are suffering severe water use competition and uneven water allocation, which seriously threatens ecosystems, as shown, for example, in the well-known Aral Sea catastrophe. This study explores the optimized water allocation schemes in the study area at the provincial level under different incoming flow levels, based on the current water distribution quotas among riparian nations, which are usually ignored in related research. The optimization model of the inexact two-stage stochastic programming method is used, which is characterized by probability distributions and interval values. Results show that (1) water allocation is redistributed among five different sectors. Livestock, industrial, and municipality have the highest water allocation priority, and water competition mainly exists in the other two sectors of irrigation and ecology; (2) water allocation is redistributed among six different provinces, and allocated water only in Bukhara and Khorezm can satisfy the upper bound of water demand; (3) the ecological sector can receive a guaranteed water allocation of 8.237–12.354 km3; (4) under high incoming flow level, compared with the actual water distribution, the total allocated water of four sectors (except for ecology) is reduced by 3.706 km3 and total economic benefits are increased by USD 3.885B.

Water allocation under deficit irrigation using MIKE BASIN model for the mitigation of climate change

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 469-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charalampos Doulgeris ◽  
Pantazis Georgiou ◽  
Dimitris Papadimos ◽  
Dimitris Papamichail
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Allocation ◽  
Deficit Irrigation

scholarly journals What Drives Climate Action in Canada’s Provincial North? Exploring the Role of Connectedness to Nature, Climate Worry, and Talking with Friends and Family

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 146
Author(s):  
Lindsay P. Galway ◽  
Thomas Beery ◽  
Chris Buse ◽  
Maya K. Gislason
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Mediation Analyses ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Connectedness To Nature ◽  
Leverage Point ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
The Relationship

Despite widespread calls to action from the scientific community and beyond, a concerning climate action gap exists. This paper aims to enhance our understanding of the role of connectedness to nature in promoting individual-level climate action in a unique setting where climate research and action are lacking: Canada’s Provincial North. To begin to understand possible pathways, we also examined whether climate worry and talking about climate change with family and friends mediate the relationship between connectedness to nature and climate action. We used data collected via postal surveys in two Provincial North communities, Thunder Bay (Ontario), and Prince George (British Columbia) (n = 628). Results show that connectedness to nature has a direct positive association with individual-level climate action, controlling for gender and education. Results of parallel mediation analyses further show that connectedness to nature is indirectly associated with individual-level climate action, mediated by both climate worry and talking about climate change with family and friends. Finally, results suggest that climate worry and talking about climate change with family and friends serially mediate the relationship between connectedness to nature and with individual-level climate action. These findings are relevant for climate change engagement and action, especially across Canada’s Provincial North, but also in similar settings characterized by marginalization, heightened vulnerability to climate change, urban islands within vast rural and remote landscapes, and economies and social identities tied to resource extraction. Drawing on these findings, we argue that cultivating stronger connections with nature in the places where people live, learn, work, and play is an important and currently underutilized leverage point for promoting individual-level climate action. This study therefore adds to the current and increasingly relevant calls for (re-)connecting with nature that have been made by others across a range of disciplinary and sectoral divides.

scholarly journals Education for Building Bridges and Strengthening Physical Infrastructural Linkages in South Asia: A Case Study of South Asian University

2020 ◽  
Vol V (I) ◽  
pp. 255-261
Author(s):  
Salma malik ◽  
Shabana Fayyaz
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Conflict Transformation ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Equitable Access ◽  
Regional Politics ◽  
Regional Center ◽  
South Asian Community ◽  
Common Vision

Multi-track diplomacy provides an effective theoretical model, which considers education as an important track integral in ushering peace, building bridges, creating the necessary infrastructure, changing mindsets and ultimately enabling a transformation from conflict prone to peace-oriented societies. Thus, giving rise to the idea of a regional higher education institution, primarily to build a regional center of excellence, with a shared common vision, that would help create a South Asian community and provide equitable access to students from all over the region. However, functioning for a decade now, the South Asian University has not been able to achieve many of the aims associated with it, largely due to the inherent hurdles and regional politics. This study will highlight the impediments faced within the region for utilizing education as an effective bridge builder and agent for positive conflict transformation & further examine the SAU’s ability to transcend the deeply entrenched conflict narrative.

scholarly journals Water Security in Africa in the Age of Global Climate Change

Daedalus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
Allen Isaacman ◽  
Muchaparara Musemwa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Well Being ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Water Shortages ◽  
Critical Dimensions ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This essay explores the multiple ways in which the nexuses between water scarcity and climate change are socially and historically grounded in ordinary people's lived experiences and are embedded in specific fields of power. Here we specifically delineate four critical dimensions in which the water crises confronting the African continent in an age of climate change are clearly expressed: the increasing scarcity, privatization, and commodification of water in urban centers; the impact of large dams on the countryside; the health consequences of water shortages and how they, in turn, affect other aspects of people's experiences, sociopolitical dynamics, and well-being, broadly conceived; and water governance and the politics of water at the local, national, and transnational levels. These overarching themes form the collective basis for the host of essays in this volume that provide rich accounts of conflicts and struggles over water use and how these tensions have been mitigated.

scholarly journals SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE CONCEPT OF CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION J. P. LEDARACA

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Conflict Transformation ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Sociological Knowledge ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Goals And Objectives

The spread of dialogue and conflict transformation practices in modern Ukraine creates a demand for academic, in particular sociological support of such processes. It becomes one of the tools to support relevant projects through sociological reflection of its goals and objectives, implemented practices, activities and consciousness of project participants and its audience. At present, such sociological support exists without a formed methodological basis, one of the areas of creation of which is the study of common principles of building peace and social sciences, in particular sociology. The article considers the use of sociological knowledge in the concept of conflict transformation by J.P. Lederach, in particular, his use of the concepts of identity, power, divided societies, conflict dynamics, social relations, social changes and more.In the perspective of sociological reading, building peace is seen as a process of social change, the signal of which is the need for conflict and confrontation within society, which can not be resolved in the perspective of the state approach, require a systematic vision of existing social relations and constructive intervention, finding opportunities for dialogue.The selection of sociological concepts and practices as components of the concept of peace building by J.P. Lederach contributes to the understanding of it as an interdisciplinary field of research and activity. The presented analysis demonstrates the potential of involving various academic disciplinary approaches in solving building peace tasks. In addition to conflict studies, political science, law, it can also be researched by social and historical memory studies, ethnopsychological and ethnosociological research, regional and cultural research, and so on. The academic field thus reveals its own potential for supporting peace-building processes.

Adaptation to climate change in the mountain regions of Central Asia: Assessment of the current knowledge

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zarina Saidaliyeva ◽  
Veruska Muccione ◽  
Maria Shahgedanova ◽  
Sophie Bigler ◽  
Carolina Adler
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Ample Evidence ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Number Of Publications ◽  
Adaptation Options

<p>The mountains of Central Asia, extending over 7000 m a.s.l. and accommodating diverse and complex natural and managed systems, are very vulnerable to climate change. They support valuable environmental functions and provide key ecosystem goods and services to the arid downstream regions which strongly depend on the melting snowpack and glaciers for the provision of water by the transboundary rivers starting in the mountains. Strong climate change adaptation (CCA) action is required to increase resilience of the vulnerable, low-income communities in the region. Our knowledge of the CCA actions in the mountains of Central Asia is limited in comparison with other mountainous regions. The aim of this study is to assess the existing adaptation projects and publications and to identify gaps in adaptation efforts by conducting a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature published in English language. To be selected, the papers had to comply with the following criteria: (i) publication between 2013 and 2019; (ii) explicit focus on CCA in the mountain ranges of Central Asia; (iii) explanation of adaptation options; (vi) a clear methodology of deriving suitable adaptation options. Following the initial screening and subsequent reading of the publications, complying with the specified criteria, 33 peer-reviewed articles were selected for final analysis. This is considerably lower than the number of publications on the European Alps, Hindu-Kush – Himalayas, and the Andes. The number of publications on Central Asian mountains has declined since 2013.</p><p>The research is heavily focused on the problem of water resources, especially water availability at present and in the future 70 % of the analysed papers addressing these issues. These are followed by the papers considering adaptation in agriculture and in managing biodiversity. A critical finding is the lack of publications on adaptation to hazards and disasters including glacier outburst floods, mudflow, and landslides which are common and comparatively well-researched hazards in the Central Asian mountains, experiencing rapid deglaciation. About 50 % of the papers address the transboundary nature of the impacts of climate changes on water resources and land management reflecting the transboundary nature of the Central Asian catchments and the tensions which exist across the region but are especially prominent in the Aral Sea basin.</p><p>We conclude that while there is ample evidence of climate change and its impacts in the mountains of Central Asia and many publications mention the need for adaptation, a very limited number of publications explicitly focus on CCA and how it can be delivered.</p>

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