Research guiding theme

NWCF maintains that the emerging problems of water management are embedded within diverse local contexts. Critical analyses of current practices of management are vital if problems such as security, groundwater overdraft, flooding, and host of other natural resources-related problems that directly affect the daily lives of rural and urban residents are to be addressed. As the intensity of natural resources use has increased, so have disputes. NWCF analyses practices and proposes practical methods for the resolution of problems in compliance with the principles of democracy, equity and social justice. NWCF adopts an interdisciplinary approach to research on floods and water scarcity as well as policy and institutional aspects of water development and management.

Themes

Research:

NWCF’s study of water issues critically explores the underlying stresses of and challenges to management in diverse geo-physical and social contexts. The findings highlight the need for a contested policy terrain where the space for dialogue among the state, the market, and critical civic movement is encouraged. The framework suits the diversity of the region and will be useful in addressing emerging disputes. A major focus of NWCF’s research is understanding vulnerability in the face of the recurrent monsoon floods in the Himalaya-Ganga region. Natural hazards and extreme hydro-climate events occur within the particular social context of communities, and research is guided by the need to enhance the ability of these communities to adapt to these events.

Community support:

NWCF’s partnership with local communities is aimed at promoting an understanding of water science among people. NWCF cooperates with local organizations to disseminate example of successful water management practices. It organizes training programs and facilitates the engagement of water users and civil society to engage with relevant agencies at national and regional levels.

Capacity building of young professionals:

NWCF supports young professionals to acquire interdisciplinary analytical capability. They write reviews of gray literature, expand their theses or field research into journal articles and monographs under rigorous supervision by senior researchers and get published after anonymous peer review in its journal Water Nepal. NWCF maintains linkages with educational establishments in order to share its research findings with students and faculty members. NWCF’s researchers are visiting faculty members of universities and research institutes and act as external thesis supervisors to post graduate students studying in Nepal and abroad.

Social Dialogue:

NWCF holds public lectures and interaction programs called Pani Satsang, a forum for professionals, policy practitioners, and civil society groups. Pani satsang represents a participatory feedback loop and are, in them, a core methodological element for lager social dialogue. The forum enables analysis of institutional activities, functions and position as part of the overall institutional mosaic. Such forum serves as a mechanism for dissemination of research results. The dialogue initiated in this manner is intended to inform the public through coverage in local media: vernacular and english press as well as radio and television. The approach raises the level of dialogue within civil society and begins the process of negotiation that should lead to identification and implementation of solution. It also helps to build local ownership of project results and ensure that key local details are not lost or under-emphasized in the larger analysis.

Whenever an international expert is present in Kathmandu, NWCF takes advantage of the opportunity to request him/her to deliver lectures on contemporary issues of water management based on their expertism. Generally, people from different walks of public life, professionals, politicians and journalists participate in the public lecture thus organized. NWCF is involved in global water debates; one of its approaches to participate in the dialogue is organizing international conferences. The principal investigators and the research associates of NWCF participate in national and international ford.