The Water Institute's 2015-16 WaterTalks Lecture Series continues with Dr. Sharachchandra Lélé, Senior Fellow, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, India. Dr. Lélé's WaterTalks lecture is titled: Bridging many divides: Building an interdisciplinary understanding of water issues in a developing country context.
Abstract
Water
problems
in
general
are
‘wicked’
problems
that
demand
an
interdisciplinary
approach
to
addressing
them.
In
developing
countries
like
India,
the
pressing
nature
of
water
problems
does
not
permit
the
luxury
of
fragmented
analysis.
But
carrying
out
interdisciplinary
and
change-relevant
research
is
easier
said
than
done,
especially
within
academia.
On
the
one
hand,
it
involves
bridging
the
research-action
divide.
On
the
other
hand,
it
involves
bridging
not
just
the
‘big
divide’
between
the
natural
and
social
sciences,
but
also
the
‘bigger
divide’
within
the
social
sciences.
And
sometimes
it
requires
bridging
the
gap
between
what
reality
seems
to
demand
and
what
donors
seem
to
be
bothered
about!
I
explore
the
multi-dimensional
nature
of
these
divides,
with
examples
from
water
research
in
India.
I
argue
that
adopting
a
‘problem-driven’
approach
and
explicitly
embracing
multiple
normative
concerns
and
multi-causality
offers
us
a
way
towards
more
socially
meaningful
and
rigorous
research.
Sharachchandra
Lélé
is
a
highly
interdisciplinary
environmental
scholar,
trying
to
bridge
the
natural
sciences,
economics,
and
political
science
in
understanding
the
concepts
of
and
pathways
to
environmentally
sustainable
and
socially
just
development.
He
combines
an
interest
in
the
concepts
of
sustainable
development,
sustainability
and
environmental
justice
with
an
urge
to
do
knowledge
generation
that
is
more
directly
linked
to
change
on
the
ground
by
balancing
academic
and
applied
research
and
teaching.
His
empirical
work
has
focused
on
issues
in
forest
and
water
resource
management
in
South
Asia.
He
is
particularly
interested
in
the
performance
of
institutions
for
environmental
governance,
including
forest
governance,
water
service
delivery
and
water
pollution
control.
He
is
currently
leading
a
major
IDRC-funded
project
on
the
impacts
of
climate
change
on
water
management
in
rapidly
urbanizing
basins
in
peninsular
India,
and
part
of
other
studies
on
water
pollution
regulation
and
sustainable
water
for
Bangalore
city.
For
those
unable
to
attend
in
person,
the
lecture
will
also
be
available
via livestream during
and
after
the
lecture.