Doctoral Dissertation Research: Participation in Water Management-Conflicting Objectives in the Era of Integrated Water Resource Management.

拟议的论文研究项目将研究巴西圣保罗大都市区的水管理问题，该地区目前正面临历史性的干旱，使公众和工业面临巨大的水资源短缺风险。迫在眉睫的水危机让人们对供水系统的可靠性产生了质疑，这个问题并非圣保罗独有；它提出了一个问题，即如何鼓励适应能力和强有力的机构，以应对日益严峻的环境挑战。这项工作将与当地大学、水务公司、联邦和州机构以及流域委员会合作，在流域一级进行，使利益相关者参与协作建模过程。案例研究的核心问题是模型如何支持决策，科学知识如何纳入政策，以及有意义的参与如何加强建模、决策和制度建设过程。该项目的结果将阐明快速发展的城市地区面临的水资源挑战以及应对这些挑战的方法。它们将通过一个大学主办的网站向多个受众传播，该网站提供葡萄牙语和英语两种材料。它们还将在公开讲习班、学术会议、同行评议期刊的出版物和水管理人员培训中发表。拟议的研究是跨学科的。它利用科学和技术研究来理解水治理、制度安排以及公众参与在适应性管理中的作用。它有三个目标：它将研究水资源管理模式的演变，在Cantareira系统联合水管理的情况下追踪水治理和参与，并为该地区开发一个协作建模框架，该框架将利益相关者定义的挑战和机遇结合起来，并创建一套参与规则。这些目标将通过包括定性和定量方法在内的混合方法来实现。用来检验水资源管理模式演变的方法是文献分析和档案工作。另外两个目标将通过采访、出席会议、技术文件的内容分析、协作模型构建和一系列公众参与的讲习班来实现。通过使用参与式建模过程和利益相关者参与，该项目旨在提高模型作为边界对象的作用，使公众能够使用科学知识进行水资源分配决策。这种创新的协作方法有可能通过减少信息不对称和通过向公众开放的教学工具提高透明度来改变水资源规划。

General Audience Summary The proposed dissertation research project will study water management issues in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is currently facing a historical drought that has placed the public and industry under great risk of water shortages. The impending water crisis has brought into question the reliability of the water system, a problem that is not unique to Sao Paulo; it has raised the question on how to encourage adaptive capacity and robust institutions that can govern in the face of growing environmental challenges. The work will be conducted at the water basin level in partnership with local universities, water utilities, federal and state agencies, and water basin committees to engage stakeholders in a collaborative modeling process. At the core of the case study are questions of how models support decision-making, how scientific knowledge gets incorporated into policy, and how meaningful participation can strengthen the modeling, decision, and institutional building process. The results of this project will illuminate the water challenges of rapidly growing urban regions and ways to meet these challenges. They will be disseminated to multiple audiences through a university-hosted website where material is available in both Portuguese and English. They will also be presented at public workshops, academic conferences, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and training of water managers.Technical Summary The proposed research is interdisciplinary. It draws on Science and Technology Studies to understand water governance, institutional arrangements, and the role of public participation in adaptive management. It has three objectives: It will examine the evolution of water resource management models, trace water governance and participation in the case of the Cantareira system joint water management, and develop a collaborative modeling framework for the region that incorporates the challenges and opportunities defined by stakeholders and create a set of rules of engagement. These objectives will be accomplished through a mixed-method approach including qualitative and quantitative methods. The methods employed to examine the evolution of water resource management models are document analysis and archival work. The other two objectives will be met by way of interviews, meeting attendance, content analysis of technical documents, collaborative model building and a series of workshops to engage the public. By using a participatory modeling process and stakeholder engagement, the project aims to improve the role of models as boundary objects that allow the public to use scientific knowledge for water allocation decision. This innovative collaborative approach has the potential to transform water resource planning by decreasing information asymmetries and improving transparency through didactic tools that are made accessible to the public.