On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development

The challenge of sustainable development is enshrined in the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations. The 17 goals and its various targets are unique with water being one of the cross cutting themes. Taking examples of past water dependent societies in a comparative s...

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Main Authors: Pande, S., Uhlenbrook, Stefan
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Springer 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110245
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author Pande, S.
Uhlenbrook, Stefan
author_browse Pande, S.
Uhlenbrook, Stefan
author_facet Pande, S.
Uhlenbrook, Stefan
author_sort Pande, S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description The challenge of sustainable development is enshrined in the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations. The 17 goals and its various targets are unique with water being one of the cross cutting themes. Taking examples of past water dependent societies in a comparative setting, this paper challenges the new field of Archaeo-hydrology in how it could contribute to the 2030 Agenda based on what can be learned from past and contemporary water dependent societies. We find that societies have coped with climate variability by diversifying both in occupation, livelihoods and use of space. Sharing the costs of coordinating such diversification requires inclusive institutions and technological innovations. Similar to technology, new social institutions emerge in response to a changing environment. However, in tandem, slow out-migration of people seems to go on, driven by better livelihood opportunities outside. If technological innovation and institutional evolution are not rapid enough, then migration seems to take over as the adaptive mechanism in response to environmental changes resulting in rapid dispersal. This means that migration from smaller, less endowed societies can be expected to be rapid, with repetitive cycles of abandonment and rehabilitation after each critical climate or adverse environment events. Consequently, more place based local innovations should be encouraged and local economies should be diversified to increase the resilience so that vulnerable societies may inherit favourable know-how for a sustainable future under changing climatic conditions.
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spelling CGSpace1102452025-02-19T13:42:45Z On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development Pande, S. Uhlenbrook, Stefan hydrology archaeology sustainable development goals river basins human settlements society migration livelihoods population diversification climate change resilience water policy technology innovation case studies The challenge of sustainable development is enshrined in the ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations. The 17 goals and its various targets are unique with water being one of the cross cutting themes. Taking examples of past water dependent societies in a comparative setting, this paper challenges the new field of Archaeo-hydrology in how it could contribute to the 2030 Agenda based on what can be learned from past and contemporary water dependent societies. We find that societies have coped with climate variability by diversifying both in occupation, livelihoods and use of space. Sharing the costs of coordinating such diversification requires inclusive institutions and technological innovations. Similar to technology, new social institutions emerge in response to a changing environment. However, in tandem, slow out-migration of people seems to go on, driven by better livelihood opportunities outside. If technological innovation and institutional evolution are not rapid enough, then migration seems to take over as the adaptive mechanism in response to environmental changes resulting in rapid dispersal. This means that migration from smaller, less endowed societies can be expected to be rapid, with repetitive cycles of abandonment and rehabilitation after each critical climate or adverse environment events. Consequently, more place based local innovations should be encouraged and local economies should be diversified to increase the resilience so that vulnerable societies may inherit favourable know-how for a sustainable future under changing climatic conditions. 2020-12 2020-11-20T05:10:48Z 2020-11-20T05:10:48Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110245 en Open Access Springer Pande, S.; Uhlenbrook, Stefan. 2020. On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development. Water History, 16p. (Online first) [doi: 10.1007/s12685-020-00264-2]
spellingShingle hydrology
archaeology
sustainable development goals
river basins
human settlements
society
migration
livelihoods
population
diversification
climate change
resilience
water policy
technology
innovation
case studies
Pande, S.
Uhlenbrook, Stefan
On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development
title On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development
title_full On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development
title_fullStr On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development
title_full_unstemmed On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development
title_short On the linkage between hydrology and society—learning from history about two-way interactions for sustainable development
title_sort on the linkage between hydrology and society learning from history about two way interactions for sustainable development
topic hydrology
archaeology
sustainable development goals
river basins
human settlements
society
migration
livelihoods
population
diversification
climate change
resilience
water policy
technology
innovation
case studies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110245
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