New Angle: Nepal journal of social science and public policy special issue on
Water security, governance and justice in the Himalaya under a changing climate
Editorial team for the special issue: Mr. Dil Khatri, Dr. Hemant Ojha and Dr. Stephanie Leder
Water, a vital resource for both sustenance of human life and the natural environment, has become increasingly scarce because of natural and anthropogenic reasons. Although the Himalayas are known as the water tower, water insecurity exists due to poor governance, unequitable access and the increasing extraction of water for a variety of purposes, including the commercialization and intensification of agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization. Furthermore, water availability underlies increasing variations due to the impact of climate change in recent decades. Growing water stress in the Himalayas and the downstream areas has posed huge threats to local water security, which is set to escalate in time to come. Increasingly, powerful actors driven by commercial interests pose risks to water security of local people who mostly use water for subsistence, domestic and drinking purposes. There is an increasing problem of water access for subsistence uses of smallholder farmers. As a result, conflicts are escalating among various categories of water users – such as local subsistence users, small industries and agricultural farms, larger industries, and others. Water conflicts also emerge between geographically differently positioned communities (mainly upstream and downstream users).
We intend to pull together knowledge on this dynamic and urgent topic through a special issue “Water security, governance and justice in the Himalaya under a changing climate” with the aim of providing academics, policy makers and practitioners with grounded analyses and expert opinions on the drivers and dynamics of water insecurity, the nature of water conflicts, and emerging governance issues and innovations on equitable water resource management.
We invite original research, review and opinion papers. Research papers need to be based on in-depth empirical data, either quantitative or qualitative. The papers can cover, but are not limited to the following broader key thematic areas:
- Drivers and dynamics of mounting problem of water insecurity
- Competing uses of and conflict on water resources
- Issues of equity, gender and access to water resource management
- Emerging mechanisms of management and distribution of water resources
- Institutional water governance issues
- Climate change impact on water sources and emerging forms and practices of adaptation
- Community and local government approaches to water resource governance
- Policy solutions for water security
Deadline for submission: Send abstract by the 30th June and full paper by 31 th August 2018 to editors in following email address:
sias-info@sias-southasia.org
For the Guidelines Download here
