Contextual knowledge co-production and capacity building for sanitation planning: experience from Kerala, India

Abstract

Small towns in the global South face huge infrastructure deficits in sanitation due to the lack of technical, institutional and financial capacity to establish treatment systems. This knowledge gap and capacity deficit are a socio-ecological challenge that requires knowledge co-production by both science and society. This work focuses on a transdisciplinary initiative on capacity building and knowledge co-production called CANALPY in Alleppey, a town located in the southern state of Kerala, India. The project recognises the need for data and knowledge for developing a fine-grained understanding of the sanitation situation in the town and also raises awareness about canal pollution to arrive at participatory solutions. This study analyses the drivers of co-production of knowledge with its enabling conditions as well as the challenges associated with it. The initiative has been instrumental in creating a space and platform for collaborations, dialogues and discussions on problems of sanitation, water quality and pollution. CANALPY has ensured the dissemination of findings among a larger audience and has inspired new thinking and action. It is also important to take into critical consideration the different practical, socio-political, institutional and competence-related challenges that impede the project's goal of knowledge sharing and capacity building.

Capacity building within urban climate resilience in the Global South – a literature review

“…Second, social learning and co-creation (Ziervogel, 2019) build a shared understanding of complex problems (Ziervogel, 2019) and vulnerabilities, which can be further integrated into planning (Laeni et al, 2020;Ziervogel et al, 2022). Third, social learning can generate long-term relations among actors and form trust by involving experiential and experts' knowledge interacted thought collaborative processes (Pillai and Narayanan, 2022). Finally, in that sense, the capacity building engaging the local relevant knowledge of communities and knowledge systems has the potential also in tackling the issue of power imbalances (Ziervogel et al, 2022) supporting less powerful stakeholders in examining and representing their interests (Reed et al, 2013).…”

“…Transand interdisciplinary approach in capacity building is a must to understand better the urban system, its elements and interrelations, the complexity of rapid urbanisation, and the impacts of changing climate, as exemplified in Honira, Salomon Islands (McEvoy et al, 2019). Furthermore, transdiciplainarity is fundamental to fostering knowledge co-creation, participation, empowerment, as exemplified in Cape Town, South Africa and Kerala, India (Pillai and Narayanan, 2022;Ziervogel et al, 2022), as well as building networks among actors, and more. One reason for this is that transdisciplinarity is a part of governance processes, supporting democratic and inclusive knowledge co-creation, the diversity of knowledge, and extracting the local knowledge from communities resulting in their empowerment and mutual learning (Ziervogel et al, 2022).…”

“…There is a growing awareness of contrasting challenges, on the one hand, the need for data for the projections to back up bankable projects, on the other hand, the need to continue urban resilience efforts in the face of scarce data. Consequently, there is a need to pursue innovative and low-cost practices for data collection, using the resources available, e.g., the inclusion of civil society and through crowdsourcing, as suggested for Kerala in India (Pillai and Narayanan, 2022). It is also crucial to balance the short-term solutions and long-term capacities building pertinent to data.…”

“…This urban expansion is compounded by inadequate capacities to address climate related risks (Solecki et al, 2018). In particular, the implementation of local climate measures in these cities faces obstacles stemming from insufficient institutional, financial and technical capacities (Sharifi et al, 2017;Lwasa et al, 2022;Pillai and Narayanan, 2022) as well as a lack of political commitment (Susskind and Kim, 2022). Particularly challenged in terms of capacity building are the small and medium size cities experiencing rapid urban growth, thus are likely to be more exposed and vulnerable to climate risks (Solecki et al, 2018).…”