Institut für sozial-ökologische Forschung (ISOE)
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Improvements in water infrastructure in developing countries are of major importance for achieving access to clean water. CuveWaters, a research based IWRM project, currently underway in Namibia, is testing different technical options to de-centralise water supply and upgrade sanitation. The Cuvelai Basin is affected by highly variable precipitation, mostly saline groundwater and a lack of perennial rivers. Water management is characterised by strong dependency on a water pipeline. Finding ways to improve the situation calls for a good grasp of the local situation regarding water utilisation patterns. Technologically sophisticated concepts can easily clash with users’ socio-cultural needs and everyday behaviour as well as their understanding of planning and maintenance. A demand-responsive approach has therefore been developed. It combines a qualitative socio-empirical perspective with participatory planning. This paper discusses method development, empirical application and results. The approaches aim is to support mutual learning as a basis for a sustainable change process.
With which political developments is BiKF confronted as a research centre as well as concerning its research and transfer efforts? Are there any hints for emerging research questions that meet practical needs? This paper gives an overview – as of June 2010 – on priority issues in the run-up to CBD’s COP-10, the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which will take place in Nagoya/Japan in October 2010. Highlighted discourse threads are: (1) the state of negotiations for an Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) regime within CBD, (2) European and international preparations for renewing the political objectives for protecting biodiversity (Post-2010 Targets) and (3) the recent decision on an Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). These three threads are selected against the background of an in depth analysis of the discourse field which was carried out in 2008/09 for BiKF. They show how the field progresses and which developments are worth being incorporated into BiKF’s further work. This Knowledge Flow Paper documents the talk given by the author during the second BiKF Retreat, 17–18 July 2010.