Concept Note

Over millennia, in South Asia, rivers have traversed diverse terrains before reaching the oceans, supporting life, livelihoods, and the development of civilizations. Today, they face human interventions and stress from the construction of dams and barrages, embankments, and hydroelectric power projects. Challenges such as river fragmentation, pollution, constricting of rivers that separates rivers from their floodplains, riverscape degradation, and excessive extraction of materials from their beds and banks further compromise their health. These practices, siloed along political. administrative and disciplinary boundaries have not heeded to the ecological continuity of river flow.

The repercussions extend to the riverine ecosystem and downstream communities limiting their access to basic water services and affect their livelihoods. Unfortunately, the prevailing river/water management approach, focused on extracting economic benefits from rivers, marginalize crucial disciplines like hydrology, geomorphology, and riverine ecosystem as well as political science, anthropology and policy studies. The pedagogy of water engineering designed to meet the need of the colonial state neglects the well-being of river-dependent human and non-human communities. Climate change adding a new layer further threatens the resilience of these communities. Recognizing the implications of our present approaches and the looming threat of climate change, it is crucial to view rivers beyond political and administrative boundaries as integral components of the natural ecosystem.

The current water management approach anchored in reductionist engineering paradigm relies on long-term average data for rainfall and river flow, supporting a business-as-usual assumption. In the era of climate change, this assumption is no longer valid, as the past does not accurately represent the future water regime. The water cycles themselves are becoming unstable, highlighting the need for approaches that prioritize climate justice, river integrity, and social well-being. The loss of natural ecosystems and the increasing frequency of weather-related disasters further intensify climate injustice, degrade river integrity, and lower social well-being. Addressing these issues requires fundamental shifts both in the ways of reductionist engineering-based water knowledge and in the prevailing policy practices of developing and managing water.

The present discourse, dominated by state and market actors, often filters out emerging risks. Overcoming the structural challenges emanating from the limitation of knowledge and practices demands a holistic and integrated approach that recognizes the diverse meanings and values of rivers from an eco-systemic perspective. Such a viewpoint is crucial for engaging the state to implement commensurate changes in approaches, promoting pro-people climate justice, especially concerning river commons and societal well-being through equitable sharing and ethical water governance. Continuous and informed dialogue, transcending geographical, disciplinary, and mental boundaries, is essential for navigating these complex challenges. A continuous dialogue among the practitioner of natural and social science including the advocates of indigenous knowledge and practices is necessary.

Objectives: The proposed session in the forthcoming World Social Forum aims to bring together representatives of people's movements, researchers, and experts from various river valleys to share their experiences and emergent problems in the wake of modern development in the era of climate change. Specifically, the session seeks to promote active discussions among community members, women, youth, academics, policymakers, NGOs, donors, and implementers to sensitize them about the current challenges of water governance, climate change, river degradation, and sustainability challenges. The discussions will focus on sustainable water management, access to water and sanitation, governance, generating new livelihood opportunities for youth, building cooperation, and community resilience through greater social inclusion and economic empowerment that recognize South Asia as consisting of diverse bioregional units.

Targets: This meeting aims to contribute to this discourse by involving the community, water practitioners, river experts, climate justice advocates, and experts to disseminate ideas crucial for overcoming challenges related to water, rivers, and climate justice. It will bring Government representatives, Policymakers, Researchers, and academics, Donors, NGOs, and CSOs, Youth groups, Local government representatives, Media, Implementers from the public and private sectors as well as  grassroot communities in a more encompassing modes of conversation.

Outcome: The meeting aims to contribute to improved water governance at local, provincial, national, and transnational levels. It seeks to create an informed and engaged community of stakeholders working together to promote sustainable water management, improved access to basic water and sanitation services, ethical river governance, and climate resilience.

Potential sub themes

• Holistic ecological paradigm transcending sectoral silos.
• Understanding growing risks of cascading hazards, depleting dry-season river flow, increased pollution, river bed mining, threating habitats and communities.
• Putting the vulnerable smallholders, artisans, fisherfolks, women and other marginalized groups first.
• Economic vs. non-economic values of water, freshwater bio-diversity including culture.

World Social Forum -2024

Climate Justice, Rivers, and Society, 15-19 February, 2024 Square of Statement

Kathmandu Declaration

*We the members of diverse people's organisations and collectives from Nepal and India gathered at the World Social Forum 2024 for dialogue on Climate Justice, Rivers, and Society from 16th to 18th February pass the following declaration*. 

We humbly pay tribute to our rivers who are living entities traversing diverse terrains supporting life, livelihoods, economies, cultures and civilizations. 

We acknowledge that these entities and our societies dependent on them today face severe crises and threats from the global colonial capitalist neoliberal extractive processes. We understand that the climate crises is a manifestation of these processes. 

We stand against the commodification, privatisation, appropriation and exploitation of riverine ecosystems and the resultant dispossession of riparian communities due to construction of dams and barrages, embankments, hydroelectric power projects, commercial sand mining, riverfront development, sewage ans effluent dumping and mindless infrastructure projects. 

We believe that these state led and corporate backed policies have caused alienation and conflicts between people and their ecosystems as well as upstream and downstream riparian communities fueling an environment of blame and mistrust across administrative boundaries of states and nations. 

We recognise the complete failure of dominant river/water management regimes and pedagogies which are top down, colonial and technocentric, prioritising economic engineering marginalizing indegenous wisdom, and crucial disciplines like hydrology, geomorphology, and riverine ecosystem as well as political science, anthropology and policy studies. 

In light of the above we resolve to work towards* 

Protecting the wellbeing of our rivers  as free flowing living entities, an invaluable part of the natural world and society. 

Building a shared understanding of the diverse values of rivers beyond political/administrative boundaries - beyond the divisions of class, caste, gender and ethnicity. 

Educating ourselves on our riverine histories and contemporary challenges and threats through a multi disciplinary lens putting the most marginalized riparian communities and their knowledge at the centre of shared river dialogues. 

Resisting the commodification, appropriation, exploitation and pollution of our rivers that threaten rivers and riverine values

Asserting our riparian user rights with principles of sustainability, equity, justice at the centre with interests of vulnerable smallholders, artisans, fisherfolks, women and other marginalized groups first.

Reviving and renewing of threatened rivers, riverine ecosystems and dependent riparian livelihoods 

Rejecting reductionist engineering-based water knowledge and climate solutions. Advocating for community centred water and river governance based on holistic approaches of climate justice

Engaging and demanding accountability from the state to provide just compensation and rehabilitation for displaced and dispossessed riparian communities.

Co-Organisers

Koshi Nav Nirman Manch (KNM), India

Narmada Bacho Andola (NBA), India

National Alliance for Peoples Movement (NAPM), India

Koshi Victims Society, Nepal

Kali Gandki Bachao Abhiyan , Nepal

Path, Chittuan Kochehori, Nepal

Digo Bikas Institue (DBI), Nepal

Nadi Bachao Jeevan Bachao Abhiyan, West Bengal India

Nadi Ghati Bachao Manch, India

PRC, Delhi India

Action Aid India

Lakhandei Bachao Sangharsh Samiti, India

Ganga Mukti Abhiyan, Bhagalpur India

Damaodar Bachao Manch, West Bengal India

Badh Sukhar Mukti Andolan, India,

Kamla Bachao Abhiyan, India

List of Signatories

Hard Copy of Signatories Available in Document Attached