14. Modern community-based approaches for water conflict mitigation
Chairs: Giovanna Giulia Zavettieri (Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”) and Monica Morazzoni (IULM University of Milan)
Type: hybrid
The disproportionate world population growth to available water resources has led some scholars to believe that a conflict over water is always possible (Giordano, Giordano, Wolf, 2002; Yoffe, et al., 2004). However, other scholars (Agnew, 2011) rule out the possibility of an imminent water war based on historical evidence. Water issues are woven into the fabric of our modern development. In many instances, infrastructures for water management and provision represent victims of conflict, both due to direct attacks and lack of governance/maintenance. Damage to water infrastructure further has a direct environmental impact, as wastewater is not treated and pollution is not addressed.
Further, rapid economic growth has been accompanied by huge infrastructure projects without consideration to cross-border consequences. As water resources are commonly shared, with some countries dependent on others for water supply, moreover, bargaining power is often skewed. By contrast, history can be a source of inspiration for reconfiguring a more integrated management of water resources.Since thousands of years, the need of societies to manage scarce water resources have been the source of various tools for transboundary collaboration. Local proximity, translating into more reflexive regional policy, has often created more leeway than the practices dominating central governments (Le Pautremat, 2020). The application of advanced technologies has similarly helped mitigate water conflict, e.g., in some transboundary marine areas (Komara, 2018).
This said, the main building blocks of successful transboundary water management have not been systematically examined and structured. What is the role of mechanisms for monitoring and control, spanning from traditional to modern tools, in realising benefits for the nations/communities involved? To what degree can mechanisms be applied to address situations already affected by conflicting relationships between or within the nations involved (such as the Mekong Delta, the headwaters of the Nile, the eastern Mediterranean basin, etc.)?
This session – in collaboration with the AGeI research group Geography of Innovation and Information and Water and Humanity – aims to gather proposals related to community-based approaches for water conflict mitigation, water warfare and peace technologies, water weaponization, Internet of Things and Remote Sensing for water, and all technologies for water conflict mitigation at all scales.
Keywords: water conflict, technologies, transboundary marine areas
Parallel sessions
6th June, Room U6-30
S14 15:45-17:15 (hybrid)
Chairs: Giovanna Giulia Zavettieri (Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”) and Monica Morazzoni (IULM University of Milan)
Majid Labbaf Khaneiki, The hydro-sociology of falaj
Andrea Gallo, The problem of water accessibility in the insular context of the Pacific Ocean – The case of Tuvalu and Kiribati
Dino Gavinelli and Giovanni Baiocchetti, The cross-border Ticino River catchment basin: cooperations, mediations and conflicts between Italy and Switzerland
Matteo Francesco Di Napoli and Monica Morazzoni, The Sea looks at the Mountain: concerns, discordances and new hopes in Alpine contexts
Thomas Andersson, Forestation and wetlands development in the Middle East. Spatial data analisys in support of sustainability