Browsing by Autor "Marc Craps"

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Framing Water Policies: A Transdisciplinary Study of Collaborative Governance; the Katari River Basin (Bolivia)
(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2022) Afnan Agramont; Guadalupe Peres-Cajías; Leonardo Villafuerte Philippsborn; Nora Van Cauwenbergh; Marc Craps; Ann van Griensven
Collaborative water governance deals with diverse actors under participatory systems of decision making. This form of water governance involves stakeholders with fundamentally different values and premises about water resources, as well as different understandings of the problem and how to approach it. Thus, one of the major challenges of collaborative water governance relies on the diversity of frames carried by stakeholders involved and the shift from hierarchical decision-making to a more collaborative and participative process. The fragmentation of frames can represent an obstacle, impede mutual understanding, and negatively influence decision making and policy outcomes. Based on participative observation, interviews, and document analysis, we explored the drivers behind the framing process in the multi-actor platform of the Katari River Basin, located in Bolivia. The results highlight a participatory process design favoring the fragmentation of frames and a unidirectional decision-making process, where public authority, scientific–technical expertise, and the local community’s knowledge are insulated, and communication among actors is asymmetrical. At the same time, this research reveals the influence of the political context in the framing process.
Integrating spatial and social characteristics in the DPSIR framework for the sustainable management of river basins: case study of the Katari River Basin, Bolivia
(Taylor & Francis, 2021) Afnan Agramont; Nora Van Cauwenbergh; Ann van Griesven; Marc Craps
The drivers–pressures–state–impact–responses (DPSIR) framework has been used widely to support environmental policy developments. However, we argue that DPSIR tends to oversimplify the complexity behind socio-ecological systems. Based on the Katari River Basin in Bolivia, we explore how the incorporation of spatial and social considerations may enhance DPSIR applications. The results reveal a spatial mismatch between driving forces/pressures and policy responses, and severe impacts on the vulnerable communities. Moreover, we also show that local levels tend to be neglected. The study concludes that integrating spatial and social characteristics in the DPSIR may result in valuable implications for river basin management practitioners.
Potential and Gaps of Sociomaterial Networks in the Global South to Transition to a Circular Economy
(2024) Melanie Valencia; María Fernanda Solíz; Milena Alía Yepez; Marc Craps
We aim to identify the potential and gaps of the sociomaterial network for the circular economy in a mid-size city in the Global South. A qualitative assessment of the local informal recycling sector and the nascent circular economy stakeholders (human and non-human is used to assess the current network. The sociomaterial network in transformation has strengths that need to be reinforced but also significant gaps in how materials and relationships are valued in the transition to a CE. From a performative perspective there are several role gaps, such as reducing regulatory barriers to operate in a CE, actioning an extended producer responsibility and a value-based education. Circular transitions have mostly focused on the Global North. This study takes an entanglement approach to assess the potential of the informal sector in the Global South and the gaps in their networks that should be addressed for a just transition to a circular economy from a primarily linear and recycling economy.
Sociomaterial networks for a systemic circular economy transition in an intermediate Global South city
(Elsevier BV, 2024) Melanie Valencia; Marc Craps; Milena Alía Yepez; María Fernanda Solíz
Transdisciplinary Learning Communities to Involve Vulnerable Social Groups in Solving Complex Water-Related Problems in Bolivia
(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2019) Afnan Agramont; Marc Craps; Melina Balderrama; Marijke Huysmans
Bolivia has influenced the international water arenas as a pioneer of the Human Water Rights Declaration before the United Nations General Council. However, despite a positive but rather ideological evolution, the country is still facing several water challenges in practice. Water governance is extremely complex due to intricate social structures, important spatial and temporal differences in the availability of water resources, ecological fragility, and weak institutions. A Transdisciplinary Learning Community approach has been adopted by the Universidad Católica Boliviana to take into account the complexity of the water problems caused by social, hydrological, and ecological system imbalances. In this approach, researchers and non-academic actors work closely together to integrate different ways of conceiving, using, valuing, and deciding on water issues. The approach aims at co-creating resilient solutions by recovering and restoring not only the ecological system, but also the social system in which all actors are aware of their role and responsibility. We explain the challenges and concerns raised by this approach in a case study of the Katari River Basin (KRB), which is impacted by a high degree of contamination that is mainly caused while crossing El Alto city, leading to dramatic consequences for the Lake Titicaca ecosystem and its surrounding communities.