Abstract:
Researching water issues like scarcity, use and management is increasingly “wicked”, not only because of climate uncertainties, but for the society ‘s contradictory expectations. In this scenario, science is increasingly being contested and politicized, an arena for which we are not prepared…and we should. Researching water in Chile has the added complication of being the most neoliberal and market-based water management system facing 12 consecutive years of less than average rainfall, and having recently gone through a failed process of drafting a new Constitution. What does that mean for researchers and for water research projects? The presentation will invite you to navigate along 3 different projects while placing them in their political and environmental context in order to reflect how research has been shaped by context, and how research is slowly shaping policy by being more inter and transdisciplinary. In this trip, I want you to help me think about the future of collaborative governance researchers and the role that we may be taking inadvertently.
Bio:
Dr. Ocampo-Melgar is an assistant professor at the University of Chile in the Department of Forestry Management and its Environment. Anahí has a Ph.D. in Arid Lands Resource Sciences from the University of Arizona, an MSc in Integrated Planning for rural development and environmental management from Spain, and an Environmental Engineering degree from Bolivia. Her research interests include: Integrated analysis of social-ecological systems, climate change adaptation, knowledge co-production for environmental management and sustainable development. Over the last couple of years, Dr. Ocampo-Melgar has been researching water security, climate change and participation in the Chilean context.
