Abstract
As often noted, water is one of the most critical natural resources in the world—one we must take care of so that future generations can enjoy safe water. This study specifically explores university-level water and environmental students’ views on perceived priorities on water. The recent debate on water policy and its complexity is first reviewed, followed by a study on how students perceived water through six predetermined criteria. Interactive learning events (n = 241) were arranged worldwide in 2011–2015 in seven countries and one region: Finland, Latvia, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Sri Lanka, USA, and Southern Africa region. The relative distribution of the criteria totaling 100% were as follows: Basic human right 31%, natural resource 25%, economic good 15%, public and social good both 11%, and cultural good 7%. The views did not substantially differentiate despite the different socio-economic conditions. Yet, basic human right should be interpreted wisely remembering environmental, economic, and other realities. Here, the target group consisted of water and environmental students, and it would be very interesting to conduct a comparative study among students in other fields (sociology, economics, etc.). On the whole, we should further analyze the value of water and its priorities to make it easier to manage water resources in the future.
Highlights
A recent UNICEF and WHO report showed that globally as many as 2.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 4.5 billion are without safe sanitation, and 0.9 billion practice open defecation
The objective of this paper is to find out how students perceive and prioritize water as a basic human right, cultural good, economic good, natural resource, public good, and social good
It mentioned The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN/CESCR, Nov 2002) that pointed out the access to water as a human right; a social and cultural good, not merely an economic commodity and defined the public nature of water as “a limited natural resource and a public commodity fundamental to life and health”
Summary
A recent UNICEF and WHO report showed that globally as many as 2.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, 4.5 billion are without safe sanitation, and 0.9 billion practice open defecation. According to McDonald et al, up to two thirds of mankind will suffer from chronic water scarcity and/or polluted water by 2050 if improvements are not made [2]. Along with these challenges, different views and perspectives seem to exist on how water should be used and managed. There are several requirements for good water management While those can be considered justified from their own perspective, they may be contradictory to each other. Due to its nature and importance practically in all areas of economics, water has become an object of policy debates, including many areas of social life, in water-stressed areas
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