Course description

The Capacity Building and Community Development course (WATR7200) places water management in the context of human development and poverty alleviation, focusing on social tools for water management: safe, secure and equitable access to water resources and river resources; and the links between water supply, sanitation and hygiene and improved public health. Effective and equitable water management requires an understanding of the socio-cultural, gender and economic factors impacting on water access and use. Students are trained in the application of a suite of participatory approaches, including various tools such as gender analysis, PRA, Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, and participatory design and evaluation of water and sanitation projects. A strong focus is placed on capacity building, including effective education and training programs in Integrated Water Management; practical tools for the development of formal and informal institutional frameworks for water management (such as water user groups); and strategies for managing community participation and strengthening relationships between governments, NGOs and communities. The module introduces students to these issues in water and community development through a 10 day field trip to a rural community and community-based organisation (CBO) in the Mekong region. We stay in rural village communities in Khong Jiam in Northeast Thailand, where the Mun River meets the Mekong. During the fieldtrip we learn from villagers through dialogue and discussion, participatory research methods such as PRA, visits to the river, the Pak Mun Dam, village walks, and learning by doing with villagers. We explore the sustainable livelihoods approach and asset-based community development, and critically examine the roles of the state and NGOs, to develop a critical understanding of local responses to dam development, environmental, economic and cultural change.

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