Abstract
The use and management of water systems is influenced by a number of factors, such as economic growth, global change (e.g., urbanization, hydrological-climatic changes), politics, history and culture. Despite noteworthy efforts to develop integrative approaches to analyze water-related problems, human-water research remains a major challenge for scholars and decision makers due to the increasing complexity of human and water systems interactions. Although existing concepts try to integrate the social and water dimensions, they usually have a disciplinary starting point and perspective, which can represent an obstacle to true integration in human-water research. Hence, a pluralistic approach is required to better understand the interactions between human and water systems. This paper discusses prominent human-water concepts (Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), socio-hydrology, and political ecology/hydrosocial approach) and presents a newly developed concept termed pluralistic water research (PWR). This is not only a pluralistic but also an integrative and interdisciplinary approach which aims to coherently and comprehensively integrate human-water dimensions. The different concepts are illustrated in a synopsis, and diverse framing of research questions are exemplified. The PWR concept integrates physical and social sciences, which enables a comprehensive analysis of human-water interactions and relations. This can lead to a better understanding of water-related issues and potentially sustainable trajectories.
Highlights
Sustainable water resource management has been and still is a major challenge for decision makers, even though integrative approaches and concepts have been developed to address problems related to floods, droughts, water quality, environment and ecology [1,2,3]
Water 2017, 9, 933 context, several research concepts (e.g., Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), socio-hydrology, and the political ecology/hydrosocial approach) have been developed; these have their roots in a variety of disciplines such as hydrology, engineering, social sciences, and geography
We describe three prominent human-water concepts (IWRM, socio-hydrology, and political ecology/waterscape) which were developed both on a scientific and/or political level to aid the analysis of water-related problems
Summary
Water 2017, 9, 933 context, several research concepts (e.g., Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), socio-hydrology, and the political ecology/hydrosocial approach) have been developed; these have their roots in a variety of disciplines such as hydrology, engineering, social sciences, and geography Each of these concepts has a different thematic or systematic focus, they are based on distinct understandings which arise mainly from different epistemologies, ontologies, methodologies, and axiologies [5]. The value of human-water-research concepts such as socio-hydrology and hydrosocial analysis, as well as the potentials of conceptual models for water-related research, has been discussed in detail by several authors [5,6,7,8] These concepts represent integrative approaches to water-related problems and, to some extent, include or involve society in planning and management, they still lack some vital components of the social dimensions needed to understand the coevolution or interaction of human and water systems. (4) illustrates the central idea of the concept by framing different research questions, respectively, in relation to the discussed concepts; and (5) resumes the benefits of the PRW in human-water research
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