Inclusive water collaborations for a peaceful, just and sustainable world

Changing narratives and collaborating outside the usual partnerships can be a struggle – there are no familiar paths to follow. The Programme’s approach involves progressive budget targets to ensure the funding flows towards underrepresented groups and close monitoring of results, paired with guidance and reflection.

Changing the funding flows

A homogeneous group of actors has long dominated knowledge creation in the water sector, leading to specific understandings of the problems and particular solutions. More perspectives, including those previously marginalized, are needed to address the water sector’s multi-faceted challenges in a sustainable and socially just manner. This is why the Programme only finances projects with active involvement of – and preferably led by – people and organisations based in non-European low- and middle-income countries, with the exception of IHE Delft. So far, more than €11 million  have been allotted to projects led by organizations in low- and middle-income countries, much of it going to the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East – Dutch Foreign Ministry priority areas. We also prioritize diverse project leadership – so far, the programme has allotted about €25 million to projects led by women and people of colour. All projects engage with previously marginalized voices and offer educational opportunities to early-career professionals from groups underrepresented in the water sector.

These progressive changes in funding flows can spark debates, with some project proposers  arguing that there are not enough experienced women in the water sector nor enough competent people and organizations in low- and middle-income countries to lead and participate in projects. This is not true. We work to change these erroneous prejudices by offering support in proposal-writing, and by making the competence of women and others marginalized more visible – the programme offers them space to lead and platforms to shine. We also support and guide project leaders and emphasise joint learning by creating safe spaces to reflect, also on failures. All of this helps foster transformations.  

Diversifying collaboration and expertise

You can’t address water-related challenges in a meaningful way unless you involve those who experience the problems. That’s why we support projects that move beyond academic partnerships to include representatives from communities, non-governmental and civil society organizations, government agencies and the private sector: they know more about what works and what doesn’t in everyday dealings with water than academics.

To support a shift from monodisciplinary research that views water only as a resource to exploit toward research that focuses on caring for water and its relationship with the environment and the people who rely on it, we seek diverse project teams that include social scientists in addition to engineers and natural scientists. This can be a challenge, particularly considering the disciplinary silos that dominate academia - scholars from different disciplines often do not know each other, and can’t always understand each other due to field-specific jargon and methods. We diversify networks and prioritize project proposals that use inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to address water challenges. This sparks change: Cecilia Roa Garcia, a senior researcher who is part of a programme project that aims to redress environmental injustices faced by marginalized communities  in Colombian port cities, told us our funding calls ‘are not just asking us to address structural inequality and differentiated impacts of environmental degradation, but also encourage us to engage in horizontal dialogue with local knowledge and creative formats for education and communication.’

Communication shifts

Academics like to share their findings in papers and at conferences – fora that have a niche audience. We encourage projects to use transdisciplinary formats that combine art and science, reason and emotions – the goal is to engage a broader audience and initiate a dialogue beyond echo-chambers of the water sector. That knowledge developed under this programme must be open access is a given, and in outreach, we aim to amplify stories that have been previously ignored. We are inspired by the principles of dignified storytelling and guide project teams in telling their stories in respectful, genuine and responsible manner.

Shifting power is a slow and challenging process. Our efforts aim to spark new collaborations built on collectively shared power and interconnectedness among a variety of sectors around the world. Ultimately, we want to help bring about a future in which societies use, share and care for water in ways that contribute to the wider societal goals of justice, peace, safety and wellbeing for all.