Traditional water knowledge: challenges and opportunities to build resilience to urban floods

Abstract

Purpose Urban flooding in developing countries of the Global South is growing due to extreme rainfall and sea-level rise induced by climate change, as well as the proliferation of impervious, built-up areas resulting from unplanned urbanisation and development. Continuous loss of traditional knowledge related to local water management practices, and the de-valuing of such knowledge that goes hand-in-hand with globalised aspirations, is inhibiting flood resilience efforts. This paper aims to address the need to include traditional water knowledge (TWK) in urban living and development processes in the Global South. Design/methodology/approach This paper commences with a review of existing frameworks that focus on natural resource management, critically assessing two existing frameworks of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). The assessment of the existing approaches contributes to this paper’s development of a novel framework to promote TWK with regard to resilience and risk reduction, specifically for developing flood adaptive strategies, which is the second stage of this paper. Finally, the paper explains how the framework can contribute to the field of urban design and planning using examples from the literature to demonstrate challenges and opportunities related to the adaptation of such a framework. Findings The framework developed in this paper reveals three proposed vertices of TWK, named as place-based landscape knowledge, water use and management and water values. This framework has the potential to produce context-specific knowledge that can contribute to flood-resilient built-environment through urban design and practices. Research limitations/implications The framework developed in this paper reveals three proposed vertices of TWK, named place-based landscape knowledge, water use and management and water values. This framework has the potential to produce context-specific knowledge that can contribute to flood-resilient built-environment through urban design and practices. Originality/value Within the field of TEK research, very few researchers have explored the field of developing flood resilience in an urban context. The proposed TWK framework presented in this paper will help to fill that gap.

Review of Urban Flood Resilience: Insights from Scientometric and Systematic Analysis

“…Among these studies, there are attempts based on a variety of frameworks, methods and indicators, but in general, the research on urban flood resilience still lacks validated measurement standards [ 38 ]. As the country with the largest number of publications related to urban flood resilience, the United States has tried to propose some theories that have been applied traditionally or not yet been verified in a large number of applications.…”

Cidades Resilientes: Um Modelo De Ações Inovadoras Voltado À Eventos Hidrológicos

“…Gestão de Desastres Hidrológicos (Asad et al, 2021); (Young, 2014); (Rodríguez-Espíndola et al, 2018); (Díaz-Delgado; Iniestra, 2014); (Alem et al,2016); (Izumi et al, 2019); (Jameson;Baud, 2016) Cidades Resilientes (Folke, 2002); (Meerow et al, 2015); (Santos, 2009); (UNISDR, 2012); (UNISDR, 2015); (Lima, 2020); (Hofmann, 2021); (Liao et al, 2016) Inovação (Miao;Popp, 2014); (Hu et al, 2018); (Ahern et al, 2014); (Gault, 2018); (Kahn, 2018) Outros Relacionados (Werkema, 2012); (Sokovic et al, 2010); (Neubauer et al, 2019); (Ghosh;Maiti, 2012); (Spirn, 2014); (Desouza;Flanery, 2013) Já no contexto social, é importante considerar que a eventualidade dos fenômenos hidrológicos, bem como seus desdobramentos, o que fortalece a necessidade de estudos que auxiliem nas formas de enfrentá-los com o mínimo de perdas humanas e econômicas, garantindo assim, a redução das vulnerabilidades das populações e a volta das cidades ao seu funcionamento (Ahern et al, 2014).…”

“…Somente no Estado do Paraná, foram 4.630 registros de desastres que afetaram 8 milhões de pessoas nos 380 municípios, ocasionando um custo de 6,8 bilhões de reais aos cofres públicos, no período de 2010 a 2018 (Asad et al, 2021). Segundo esses dados, 40% desses desastres são caracterizados por enchentes, alagamentos e inundações.…”

Integrated Traditional Water Knowledge in Urban Design and Planning Practices for Sustainable Development: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Traditional knowledge about water resources includes a profound understanding of natural processes and the ecological dependencies of water systems, as well as people's connections with their local land and water bodies and their relationships with spiritual beliefs [16][17][18][19]. Associated with Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), traditional water knowledge (TWK) is an approach whereby local people can contribute intergenerational knowledge of living closely with their local water system ecology to become potential active managers of change [20]. Traditional water knowledge (TWK) extends beyond a tangible, practical relationship with land and water into contextual insight, beliefs, sense, and practices that are an integral part of traditional culture [8,21].…”

“…In this paper, the term traditional water knowledge (TWK) refers to various waterfocused knowledge and practices that people have maintained and developed during long histories of close relations with their local water systems [20]. In this sense, the word traditional expresses that such knowledge is shared and belongs to communities with strong cultural and social ties from generation to generation.…”