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UPCOMING SEMINAR, JAN 28: OPERATIONALIZING EQUITY IN THE PROVISION OF WATER INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES
On January 28, at 4:00 pm, Khalid K. Osman will be speaking via zoom as part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Seminar Series hosted by Carnegie Melon’s Engineering and Public Policy department. Abstract: Historic decisions in the water sector were designed to limit access to certain groups of people with impacts that still loom […]
New SSHRC-Funded Project: Comparative Analysis of Non-material Dimensions of Water Insecurities
Leila M. Harris and her three collaborators, W. Jepson, M. Galvin, and S. Walsh, have a new SSHRC-funded project! Awarded the Insight Grant from SSHRC, the project “Beyond Access: Comparative Analysis of Non-material Dimensions of Water Insecurities,” has three goals. First, it advances conceptualization and empirical evidence for non-material elements of water insecurity. Second, it examines […]
NEW PUB: MCFARLANE AND HARRIS: SMALL SYSTEMS, BIG CHALLENGES: REVIEW OF SMALL DRINKING WATER SYSTEM GOVERNANCE
Kiely McFarlane and Leila M. Harris published an article titled, “Small systems, big challenges: Review of small drinking water system governance.” in Environmental Reviews. Abstract: Small drinking water systems (SDWS) are widely identified as presenting particular challenges for drinking water management and governance in industrialised nations because of their small customer base, geographic isolation, and limited human […]
NEW RESOURCE OUT: LESSONS FROM THE EU APPROACH TO GOVERNING SMALL DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS
Ana Elia Ramón-Hidalgo, Kiely McFarlane, Emily Raab and Leila M. Harris compiled a policy brief that draws together insights from recent reports on the state of small drinking water systems in the EU, and evaluations of the EU Drinking Water Directive. The brief aims to highlight key themes and considerations that might be of interest for […]
NEW RESOURCE OUT: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GOVERNANCE OF SMALL DRINKING WATER SYSTEMS
Kiely McFarlane compiled a bibliography of recent sources related to the governance of small drinking water systems. This bibliography identifies academic publications from 1990-June 2018 that examine one or more aspects of the governance of SDWS in industrialised countries. Key themes in the publications are summarised in a literature review on the challenges, causes, solutions, […]
NEW PUB: BOOK REVIEW – MOUNTAIN ICE AND WATER: INVESTIGATIONS OF THE HYDROLOGIC CYCLE IN ALPINE ENVIRONMENTS
Graham McDowell published a book review of “Mountain Ice and Water: Investigations of the Hydrologic Cycle in Alpine Environments.” in Mountain Research and Development. To view article, click link below link: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1659/mrd.mm224#
NEW PUB: LUKER AND HARRIS: DEVELOPING NEW URBAN WATER SUPPLIES: INVESTIGATING MOTIVATIONS AND BARRIERS TO GROUNDWATER USE IN CAPE TOWN
EDGES alumna Emma Luker, and Leila M. Harris co-authored an article titled, “Developing new urban water supplies: Investigating motivations and barriers to groundwater use in Cape Town” in International Journal of Water Resources Development. Abstract: Many cities are experiencing increasing water resource stress. In Cape Town, South Africa, surface water supplies are at a record […]
NEW OP-ED ON NATIONAL POST: TRUMP’S ‘ALL-OUT EFFORT’ ON CLIMATE IS DERELICT AND RISKY
EDGES member Sameer H. Shah and Scott McKenzie, and Devyani Singh published an op-ed piece on National Post, titled “Trump’s ‘all-out effort- on climate is derelict and risky.” This article was originally published on The Conversation, an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts. Disclosure information is available on the […]
NEW PUB: WUTICH ET AL.: HOUSEHOLD WATER SHARING: A REVIEW OF WATER GIFTS, EXCHANGES, AND TRANSFERS ACROSS CULTURES
Leila Harris is a co-author on a recent article “Household water sharing: A review of water gifts, exchanges, and transfers across cultures” by Wutich. A., Budds, J., Jepson, W. et al. published in Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews – Water. Abstract: Water sharing offers insight into the everyday and, at times, invisible ties that bind people and households […]
New Publication: Rodina & Harris – Water, equity and resilience in Southern Africa
EDGES members Lucy Rodina and Leila Harris are part of a team that collaborated on an article, “Water, equity and resilience in Southern Africa: future directions for research and practice” that was published in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. Abstract: Drawing from the proceedings of an expert workshop with academics, researchers, government and NGO participants working […]
Congrats to Emma Luker on her new position as a Planning Analyst with UBC’s Campus + Community Planning Department!
Congratulations to Emma, a recent EDGES graduate, on her new position as a Planning Analyst with UBC’s Campus + Community Planning Department! Emma will be working with the teams from Public Engagement and Sustainability + Engineering on work related to UBC’s Strategic Plan and Integrated Stormwater Management Plan, as well as general climate change action […]
Congrats to Emma Luker on finishing her MSc!
EDGES congratulates Emma Luker on finishing her MSc this summer! Emma’s thesis is titled “Transitioning towards water supply diversification : possibilities for groundwater in Cape Town, South Africa” and can be read here. Summary: New options for urban water management are being considered as cities experience increasing stress on their water resources. In the City of […]
New Publication: Harris et al: Negotiated Resilience
L. Harris published an article with E. Chu, and G. Ziervogel that develops the concept of “Negotiated Resilience.” Harris, L., E. Chu, G. Ziervogel (2017). Negotiated Resilience. Resilience: International policies, practices and discourses. 1-19 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21693293.2017.1353196 Abstract: Resilience thinking has been roundly critiqued for not accounting for the political – and inherently power-laden – structures that shape decision-making. In […]
New Publication: Jepson, Harris, Shah, et al.: Advancing human capabilities for water security: A relational approach
EDGES members L. Harris and S. Shah were part of a team that recently collaborated on an article in Water Security that re-conceptualizes water security in relation to broader social and political relations, and human capabilities. The article can be found here.
EDGES welcomes new team members!
The EDGES team is pleased to welcome four new members this Fall – Julian S. Yates, Graham McDowell, Emma Luker and Noal Amir. Julian is a Postdoctoral Fellow at IRES, working on the rollout of small-scale water filtration facilities among BC’s First Nations communities – an approach that gained political expediency due to the recently introduced Water […]
Congrats to Fatima!
EDGES would like to congratulate Fatima for completing her Master’s degree at IGRSJ. Fatima did her Master’s degree with Dr Leila Harris at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice. Her research examines issues of gender and representation within certification standards applied to cocoa bean production. More specifically, she is using feminist critical […]
Chapter 19
Participation’s limits: Tracing the Contours of Participatory Water Governance in Accra, Ghana, Cynthia Morinville and Leila Harris In the context of increasing focus on participatory resource governance, this chapter focuses on the case of Local Water Boards in underserved areas of Accra, Ghana. Our analysis suggests that the boards are serving several important functions, for instance […]
Chapter 18
Problems and Prospects for Genuine Participation in Water Governance in Turkey, Zeynep Kadirbeyoglu and Ekin Kurtic This chapter focuses on hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) and the decentralization of irrigation in Turkey to explore whether there is participation of local communities in the processes of decision-making and implementation. We find that the question of participation lies at […]
Chapter 17
Who is a Water User? The Politics of Gender in Egypt’s Water User Associations, Jessica Barnes Participation in institutions of participatory water management, including in water user associations (WUAs), is frequently patchy. Drawing on an ethnographic study of a project to establish WUAs in one of Egypt’s provinces, this chapter traces the roots of limited female […]
Chapter 16
The Participatory Paradigm: anathema, praise and confusion, Jacqueline Goldin Sites across the developing world bear the marks of failed projects touted as ‘participatory’ that have not fully, or meaningfully, involved stakeholders at multiple scales. This chapter isolates ‘four fatal flaws’ to interrogate the concept of participation: (1) participation is enmeshed with notions of decentralization and devolution, […]
Chapter 13
Privatization of water services in Kenya: supply strategies for the urban poor, O A K’Akumu This chapter assesses Kenya’s water privatization program, with particular focus on the efforts made to ensure that the needs of those living in informal settlements and of others with inadequate water provision are served. Privatization was pursued following years of poor […]
Chapter 12
(Dis)connecting the flow, steering the waters: Building hegemonies and ‘private water’ in Zambia, 1930s to the present, Hillary Waters This chapter examines four moments in Zambian history to argue hegemony is a dual process: bundling ideologies, institutions and context engenders power while representing water as isolated from this process provides hegemony the guise of objectivity. Investigating […]
Chapter 11
Variable Histories and Geographies of Marketization and Privatization, Leila M Harris Water privatization and marketization are unfolding in distinct ways in various places and regions. This paper traces the contours of the variable histories and geographies of privatization and marketization, including the history of private water provision in North America and Europe, and the contemporary push […]
Chapter 10
Framing the Debate on Water Marketization and Privatization, Leila M. Harris How and why have water marketization and privatization emerged as hegemonic? This chapter reviews the state of knowledge in this regard, suggesting that the ‘bundling’ of these concepts as necessarily linked has been crucial to their rapid uptake. Linking to other themes of the book, […]
Chapter 7
Abundance and Scarcity Amidst the Crisis of “Modern Water”: Changing Water-Energy Nexus in Turkey, Sinan Erensu The world of hydropower is in transition: as large dams have lost their credibility, run-of-the-river small hydropower plants (SHPs) are gaining currency thanks to their perceived eco-friendliness in post-carbon economy. Focusing on Turkey’s green energy drive, this chapter looks at […]
Chapter 6
Water Scarcity and the Colonial State: the emergence of a Hydraulic Bureaucracy in Southwestern Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia, 1964 -1972 , Muchaparara Musemwa This chapter examines how water was institutionalized in southwestern Matabeleland, 1964-1972, Rhodesia, following a devastating drought in 1964-65 and how ‘water scarcity’ became a dominant idea in this specific locale. This drought triggered a ‘crisis’ condition […]
Chapter 5
Tensions in Narratives and Lived Realities of Water Crisis in Damascus, Basil Mahayni This chapter analyzes narratives of water crisis in Damascus, and considers these against Syria’s modernization projects of the last forty years. Rather than isolating water crises as specific to Damascus, the chapter argues that a broader set of conditions unfolding across time throughout Syria […]
Chapter 4
Producing Crisis: Hegemonic Debates and Mediations and Representations of Water Scarcity, Basil Mahayni This chapter interrogates the common-sense notion of increasing freshwater scarcity. While water quantity, quality, and hydrological systems become increasingly uncertain in some contexts, there is nonetheless a range of tensions that emerge through an investigation of hegemonic representations of water scarcity. Providing a […]
Chapter 3
Response from Biophysical and Engineering Perspectives, Lawrence Baker The core themes of this book – scarcity, marketization, and participation – in the context of water governance – cannot be fully understood without the perspectives of science and technology. On one hand, technocratic hegemonies have often had unfortunate consequences. On the other, emerging information technologies offer the […]
Chapter 2
Water, Governance, and Hegemony, Chris Sneddon This chapter examines the rise of a variety of concepts—scarcity, marketization and participation— that have assumed hegemonic status within discourses and practices associated with water governance. The chapter’s aim is to provide a common frame of reference for how subsequent chapters treat the notion of hegemonic concept in the water […]
Chapter 1
Introduction, Jacqui Goldin, Chris Sneddon, Leila Harris This chapter introduces key themes of interest, as well as contributions from the chapters and sections of the book.
