Governance, Sustainability and Decision Making in Water and Sanitation Management Systems
Open Access
- 5 November 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Sustainability
- Vol. 4 (11), 2922-2945
- https://doi.org/10.3390/su4112922
Abstract
We explore the connections between the concepts of governance and sustainability and discuss their possible roles in water and sanitation management systems (WSMS). We see governance as a decision-making process that drives the relationship between social institutions and the public affairs of a given society. We understand sustainability as a combination of spatial, temporal, and personal aspects, and we argue that this definition is more comprehensive than the traditional triple bottom line of economy, environment, and society. We combined these two concepts into a new conceptual framework of “governance for sustainability” that is theoretically sound and arguably appropriate to understand local WSMS. To illustrate this framework, we developed and estimated a Sustainable Water Governance Index (SWGI) for the city of Salta, Argentina. This aggregated index was calculated with data from literature, information from the city’s water company and other local institutions, field visits, and interviews. The SWGI for Salta obtained an overall score of 49 on a 0–100 scale, which fell into the “danger” range. We discuss the advantages and limitations of the method and conclude that aggregated indices such as the SWGI, complemented with contextual information, can be a helpful decision-making tool to promote more sustainable WSMS.Keywords
This publication has 41 references indexed in Scilit:
- Is World Bank “Good Governance” Good for the Poor? Central American ExperiencesComparative Sociology, 2012
- META‐GOVERNANCE: VALUES, NORMS AND PRINCIPLES, AND THE MAKING OF HARD CHOICESPublic Administration, 2009
- A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological SystemsScience, 2009
- A diagnostic approach for going beyond panaceasProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Environmental citizenship: towards sustainable developmentSustainable Development, 2007
- Capturing the complexity of water uses and water users within a multi-agent frameworkWater Resources Management, 2006
- Governance for sustainable development: moving from theory to practiceInternational Journal of Sustainable Development, 2005
- Developing a framework for sustainability governance in the European UnionInternational Journal of Sustainable Development, 2005
- Need for improved methodologies and measurements for sustainable management of urban water systemsEnvironmental Impact Assessment Review, 2000
- The sustainability of our common future: An inquiry into the foundations of an ideologyTechnology in Society, 1995