Bridging Perspectives: Lessons from the Water Custodian approach

Water management decision-making typically adopts either a top-down or a bottom-up approach. Presently, Bangladesh is exploring participatory planning, emphasizing consultations with local communities. This paper presents a framework for linking the top-down with the bottom-up approaches and discusses three case studies. The first one is about Tidal River Management in the South West Delta Bangladesh, and subsequently the framework is applied to Haor and Dhaka.

The livelihoods of communities in the South-West Delta face challenges due to environmental changes and socio-economic dynamics. Traditional approaches, inspired by Dutch polder development, have led to adverse effects such as increased salinity and drainage congestion. Local dissatisfaction with these solutions has manifested in events where farmers breach embankments to address these issues, while others turn to shrimp farming. A top-down approach to water management hampers effective communication and collaboration between experts and local communities.

The key challenge lies in managing the complex interactions among diverse stakeholders within the heterogeneous community. The Water Custodian framework aims to address this challenge by incorporating local community mapping into decision-making processes. The framework recognizes the diversity of stakeholders, including large landowners, subsistence farmers, and landless laborers, each with unique perspectives and incentives.

The primary objective of the framework is to enhance decision-making processes by incorporating humane elements, focusing on the inclusion of local communities and their vulnerability profiles. This involves developing a decision support process and tool to facilitate the inclusion of local knowledge and expertise in water management decision-making.

The approach is based on 'mental models' and 'life stories,' aiming to bridge geo-physical criteria with socio-economic and livelihood criteria. The Water Custodian framework uses fictional archetypal characters called Local Families, akin to personas in marketing and user interaction development, to represent different user groups. These personas help experts and decision-makers understand the diverse needs, experiences, behaviors, and goals of local communities. A serious board game is developed in which participants roleplay the various life-stories and have to prioritize the interventions based on their perspectives. The process is supported by a non-complex rapid impact assessment software, to provide rapid assessment of the scores obtained on the defined indicators.

The Water Custodian approach's adaptability to various contexts has been demonstrated by its application in the South-West Delta, the Haor region for integrated flood management, and for urban sustainability in Dhaka and Mumbai.  By using serious gaming for mapping and understanding the local context, the framework remains effective in addressing the unique challenges of each region.

Beyond its application in Bangladesh, the Water Custodian framework holds potential for various contexts worldwide. In natural resource management, it can be adapted to scenarios involving water resources, forests, or agricultural lands. The framework's inclusive approach can also find application in urban planning and development, disaster management, and educational initiatives.

In conclusion, the Water Custodian concept transcends geographic boundaries and application domains, serving as an anchor for inclusive and participatory approaches in decision-making.