Water, Cultural Diversity, and Global Environmental Change: Emerging Trends, Sustainable Futures?

The book consists of five parts. Part I explores water’s fundamental place in life, flowing through all organic processes, shaping all of the earth’s environments, and coursing through humanity’s traditions, values, meanings, politics, economics, art and engineering – i.e., culture in its broadest sense. Part II considers the “culture of water” through an explicit focus on traditional ecological knowledge and water resource management: approaches that have historically served to sustain the lifeways of indigenous groups and ethnic minorities. Part III examines current patterns of water resource management in various ecoregions and geopolitical contexts. Part IV considers the changing and possible future dynamics of intersections between water, biodiversity, and cultural diversity, with a critical focus on the lessons learned from the past several decades of hydro-development. Part V sketches out alternative scenarios for the future, arguing that a sustainable approach to water resource development must, first and foremost, be one that sustains the cultural and biological diversity of life.