Risks and Responses to Urban Futures: Building synergies between urban development processes and peri-urban communities for enhanced ecosystem service

Lead Research Organisation: International Water Management Institute
Department Name: Regional Office for South Asia

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Planned Impact

Our vision is of a world in which diverse peri-urban residents recognise the value of ecosystem services (ES), are able to identify potentially destructive pathways which erode these ES and work with stakeholders (e.g. civil society organisations, policy makers and regulators) to develop constructive pathways that protect ES and help lift people out of poverty.

Our project involves impact activities at three interacting levels: 1) peri-urban communities in the vicinity of Delhi, 2) building on our Delhi case study, national policies of direct relevance to other Indian cities, and 3) a south Asia regional network. In each case we draw on established contacts and extensive experience within the research team.

We aim to provide an evidence base and analytical tools that will support greater coherence across the policy streams of environment, health, agriculture and development, to achieve poverty alleviation and urban development goals while the long term sustainability of ES is maximised. Our focus is on building epistemic communities and ES-conscious policy makers, rather than directly tackling vested political and economic interests. The overall goal is, nonetheless, that these activities continue after the research funding ceases, with community representatives, researchers and intermediary organisations skilled and knowledgeable enough to engage in on-going impact initiatives.

Our primary target beneficiaries are poor communities dependent on peri-urban ES, whilst secondary beneficiaries include local political actors, national and regional policy makers, government service providers (e.g. water, agriculture) and health/environment NGOs. Our theory of change, to be developed at the inaugural workshop, starts with the assumption that excellent science needs to address local concerns, engage the most affected people and translate these concerns into policy relevant findings, linking science, practice and policy.

We will engage with peri-urban communities and stakeholders (government officials, policy makers, NGO workers, environmental activists) from the onset. We will utilise participatory approaches throughout including community participatory mapping and impact pathways analysis, in conjunction with a programme of community meetings, workshops, training sessions and policy dialogues. We will engage in dialogue with stakeholders using the maps of ES flows from our spatial analyses, using these visual tools as a way of engaging in discussions about different strategies and policies for peri-urban ES and livelihoods. In addition to identifying specific local interventions to protect ES with the communities involved in Delhi, we will explore specific entry points and processes for local and national policy interventions. In order to do so, the project will build on different partners' existing relationships and engagements with key policy processes (e.g. IWMI engages with policy makers on urban agriculture, water and urban resource reuse and recycling).

Finally, we will establish a regional south Asia group on peri-urban ES to support development of ES/PA methodologies, identify opportunities to raise awareness of ES and poverty alleviation interactions in city policies and plans for resource management. The group will include representatives from each of the cities participating in peri-urban ES mapping activities (Delhi, Varanasi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Dhaka and Khamandu) and from other relevant national and regional groups including WHO and FAO.

Our range of communication material will include details on the participatory mapping of ES and their values, spatial charts of processes, project newsletters, blogs, as well as academic seminars, conference papers, and peer-reviewed journal articles. A project website will provide a collection of new material, including documents, photos, accounts of café scientific and other meetings, and a central space for on-going discussion.

Publications

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Description IWMI component:
IWMI led the regional study components, and was specifically responsible for regional ES mapping exercises, policy consultations, and wider networking activities among regional stakeholders (including the regional south Asia group on periurban ES.
Key findings:
A methodology for mapping ES such as food production, water yield, and agricultural water availability has been developed. This can be generated as landscape maps covering a defined area that includes periurban areas or as maps showing the smallest administrative unit "mandal". The spatial and temporal patterns and transitions of various ES can be mapped using satellite images and quantified. A combination of multi - resolution, multi-temporal satellite images can be used to derive various indicators of ecosystem services that can be observed over time.
Urban areas and Peri-urban spaces were expanding due to urbanization processes. Within the study cities, spatio-temporal mapping showed loss of agriculture land to infrastructure development. consequently, Ecosystem services (ES) were compromised.
Agriculture production diversified, overtime. High value crops were increasingly popular due to market demand. Increased production in less space points towards intensification and therefore requires closer monitoring. Key question raised were, safety of produce, natural resources and health of the farmers.
All maps used for ES mapping can be viewed at http://waterdata.iwmi.org/applications/espa/

Policy consultations: The multiple sectors involved were very interested in the concept of ecosysyem services, however, integrated approaches were difficult to operationalise due to sectoral mandates. However, sensitization and awareness building on ESPA concepts were successful.
A regional group comprising stakeholders from India, Nepal and Bangladesh were able to share the regional issues related ESPA at two meetings held in India and Nepal respectively. All outcomes for the project are included in the common activity report prepared by the Principle Investigator Fiona Marshall.
Exploitation Route The maps developed can be useful for decision makers to visualise where ES (food production) can serve best.
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

Communities and Social Services/Policy

Education

Environment

Government

Democracy and Justice

Other

 
Description We refer to the award given to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). IWMI was responsible for regional studies on Ecosystem Services mapping, policy consultations, and wider networking activities among regional stakeholders. The non-academic impacts are the knowledge transfer on concepts linked to ESS, approaches used in developing maps that aid in visualization for decision making amongst the Master Planners.