Bridging the Water Adaptation Gap: A Comparative Inter- and Transdisciplinary Perspective of Regional Risks and Vulnerabilities in Drylands in Canada and Latin America

This project aims to address the existing climate adaptation gap at the regional level to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities of people and ecosystems to climate change, with a particular emphasis on water security, in order to support the design of national and international climate adaptation policies. It seeks to exchange learnings on the adaptive capacity and proactive and collaborative planning of diverse stakeholders and governance systems to safeguard sustainable water management, water access and quality of ecosystems, livelihoods and productive economies. It includes the comparative analysis of four river basins: South Saskatchewan, Canada; Mendoza, Argentina; Choapa, Chile; and Laguna del Sauce, Uruguay.

• O1: Build a transdisciplinary work platform.
• O2: Identify regional risks of socio-ecological systems linked to the use and management of water,
• O3: Assess risks and possible impacts in four sectors: ecosystems, primary economic activity, livelihoods and infrastructure.
• O4: Assess the capacity for institutional adaptation and the governance system.
• O5: Identify narratives and values that help understand current adaptive practices.
• O6: Model future hydroclimatic and water security risks.
• O7: Build an integrated evaluation of the problem of adaptation of social-ecological systems.
• O8: Identify potential alternatives and paths that increase the capacity for adaptation.

The complexity of the problem requires an action-oriented inter- and transdisciplinary mode of research that brings together engineers, natural and social scientists, local and national decision-makers, communities and other stakeholders. The framework research strategy seeks to identify the multiple regional risks that can affect the diversity of water users at the basin level and the corresponding socio-economic activities. Likewise, it seeks to evaluate risks and possible impacts in four sectors: ecosystems, primary economic activity, livelihoods and infrastructure. In the first year of work, to achieve objectives 1, 2 and 3, the research methods to be practised will be focus groups and semi-structured interviews, to which qualified informants from specific fields of expertise will be called.

• Faculty of Social Sciences (Cristina Zurbriggen- DT Grade 4)
• Faculty of Economics and Administration Sciences (Miguel Carriquiry- Grade 5)
• Faculty of Engineering (Rafael Terra – DT Grade 5)
• University Center of the Eastern Region (Néstor Mazzeo – DT Grade 5)
• SARAS (South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies), Maldonado, Uruguay

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) is a Canadian federal research funding agency that promotes and supports research and training in the humanities and social sciences.

Start: September 2022

Ends: September 2027

Background and context for the analysis of risk in the Laguna del Sauce basin water security associated with climatic and non-climatic factors.

Background and context of the risk analysis in the water security of the Laguna del Sauce Basin related to climatic and non-climatic factors.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Background and context for the analysis of risk in water security of the Laguna del Sauce basin associated with climatic and non-climatic factors.

Annex I – Questions and triggers for exchanging discussion groups with public and private actors linked to water management, the sectors considered and the territories analyzed.