The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to light many aspects of the crises in humanity’s relationship with water. The emphasis on washing hands, and practicing personal hygiene brought into sharp relief the severe water scarcity facing millions of India’s most underprivileged people in rural and urban areas. The unforeseen and rapidly escalating nature of the crisis demonstrated the need for greater resilience in public health systems. Reliable access to water for drinking and personal hygiene is an indispensable element of this system. At a broader level, the pandemic highlighted the extent to which social and economic life is dependent on and circumscribed by the larger ecological system and the perils of ignoring or abusing this connection. The scarcity of water remains one of the most visible and acute manifestations of the crisis triggered by an anthropocentric worldview.
The Bahá’í Chair for Studies in Development organized this webinar to explore the contours of a new paradigm for water governance based on the principles of environmental stewardship, justice and the oneness of existence. The webinar seeks to bring together empirical insights and the learning from promising prototypes, to show the way forward towards a more sustainable water future.
About the speakers:
The speakers for the webinar include P.S. Vijayshankar, Founder, Member and Director of Research, Samaj Pragati Sahayog ; Vishal Narain, Professor, Public Policy and Governance, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon; Safa Fanaian, Research Scholar, School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, University of Oxford and K.J. Joy, Senior Fellow, Society for Promoting Peoples Participation in Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM), Pune.
