City level water forum for inclusive and equitable water governance

Project LeaderDil Khatri (PhD)

Project Partners and CollaboratorsInstitute for Studies and Development Worldwide (IFSD), Sydney, Australia

Funded byClimate and Development Knowledge Network

Duration:  July 2019 to June 2020

Project Description: 

This project capitalizes on knowledge and innovations generated by two previous projects of SIAS i.e. Climate Adaptive Water Management Plans for Cities in South Asia (CAMPS) funded by the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC), and The Political Economy of Water SecurityEcosystem Services and Livelihoods in the Western Himalayas, funded by the UK government under the Ecosystem Services and Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) program, with focus on climate adaptive water resources management. This project draws from over five years of research and local engagement on the interrelation of water, urbanization, and climate change in three rapidly urbanizing cities experiencing water stress. It also seeks to contribute to climate adaptive and inclusive water governance by catalyzing evidence and encouraging informed decision-making processes at local, provincial, and federal levels of government. In doing so, it seeks to enhance institutional mechanisms for cooperation and equitable water access.

The project has the following objectives:

  • Catalyse evidence informed deliberation in selected cities for inclusive water regulation focusing on equitable water access and upstream-downstream cooperation through the innovative tool of “Water Forum” (Pani Chautari)
  • Foster learning on inclusive and equitable water governance among city level stakeholders
  • Inform local, provincial and federal policy processes towards institutionalizing inclusive and equitable water governance

Project SitesBidur MunicipalityDharan Sub Metropolitan city and Dhulikhel Municipality

Project Team: Kamal Devkota and Kaustuv Raj Neupane