The Water Justice Alliance

Growing demand and limited supply of water are generating ever-increasing competition, with globalization and the neoliberal political climate favoring some uses over others. This generates accumulation processes that exacerbate poverty and threaten the food and water security of those with less power and voice, while also causing environmental degradation. Conflicts over water arise over access to the resource, over the content of rights and rules, over the legitimate authority that makes these rules, and over the discourses used to articulate realities. This interdisciplinary and comparative research alliance—Water Justice—aims to unravel the mechanisms of water accumulation and conflicts and support the most vulnerable water user groups. It consists of a combination of thematic and conceptual work with case studies from Latin American countries and other continents. Outreach and advocacy activities, combining virtual media with real-life events, are an integral part of the alliance's activities.ón interdisciplinaria y comparativa – Justicia Hídrica – tiene como objetivo desmenuzar los mecanismos de acumulación de agua y conflictos, y apoyar a los grupos de usuarios de agua más vulnerables. Consiste de una combinación de trabajo temático-conceptual y metodológico con casos de estudio en países Latino-americanos y otros continentes. Actividades de difusión e incidencia política, combinando medios de comunicación virtuales con eventos reales, forman una parte integral de las actividades de la alianza.

Objectives of the Alliance

The alliance's main objective is to contribute to greater water justice—in the form of democratic water policies and sustainable development practices that promote equitable water distribution.

  1. Development

Influence public debates and motivate action by policymakers and legislators. Strengthen civil society strategies for more democratic water policies, better water conflict resolution mechanisms, and a more equitable and fair distribution of water resources.

2. Knowledge, research and innovation

Conduct comparative research and stimulate interactive learning processes through a multi-stakeholder research and action network with peasant and indigenous user organizations in specific water management contexts, in order to acquire deeper knowledge on:

  • Accumulation: the dynamics and mechanisms of water rights and accumulation processes, across lines of class, gender, and ethnicity.
  • Conflicts:the content, dynamic nature, and structural contradictions of the resulting conflicts.
  • Civil Society Action: opportunities and multi-scale strategies for grassroots and civil society actors to address water injustices and resolve water conflicts.

3. Capacity development

To train and consolidate a critical mass of gender-balanced water professionals with the capacity to identify, understand, and address the processes of water accumulation and conflicts, and to guide them in the interdisciplinary design of water development strategies that help the most politically and economically vulnerable groups.

Activities of the Alliance

There are a number of activities that have been and continue to be carried out by the Water Justice Alliance. Past activities include –among others - the International Meetings of Water Justice Researchers (between 2009 and 2015), and Water Justice Course-Workshops for young water professionals in the Andes (since 2009 with more than ten performances).

Several research, training and action projects have also been implemented, such as:

To learn more about the alliance's current activities, visit the Riverhood and River Commons website here.

en_GBEnglish
es_ESSpanish en_GBEnglish