Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India

Groundwater is one of the most challenging common pool resources to govern, resulting in resource depletion in many areas. We present an innovative use of collective action games to not only measure propensity for collective action, but to improve local understanding of groundwater interrelationship...

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Main Authors: Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S., Janssen, Marco A., Kandikuppa, Sandeep, Chaturvedi, Rahul, Rao, R. Kaushalendra, Theis, Sophie
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: Arizona State University 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148115
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author Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Janssen, Marco A.
Kandikuppa, Sandeep
Chaturvedi, Rahul
Rao, R. Kaushalendra
Theis, Sophie
author_browse Chaturvedi, Rahul
Janssen, Marco A.
Kandikuppa, Sandeep
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Rao, R. Kaushalendra
Theis, Sophie
author_facet Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Janssen, Marco A.
Kandikuppa, Sandeep
Chaturvedi, Rahul
Rao, R. Kaushalendra
Theis, Sophie
author_sort Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Groundwater is one of the most challenging common pool resources to govern, resulting in resource depletion in many areas. We present an innovative use of collective action games to not only measure propensity for collective action, but to improve local understanding of groundwater interrelationships and stimulate collective governance of groundwater, based on a pilot study with NGOs in Andhra Pradesh, India. The games simulate crop choice and consequences for the aquifer. These were followed by a community debriefing, which provided an entry point for discussing the interconnectedness of groundwater use, to affect mental models about groundwater. A slightly modified game was played in the same communities, one year later. Communication within the game increased the likelihood of groups reaching sustainable extraction levels in the second year, but not the first. Individual payments to participants based on how they played in the game had no effect on crop choice. Either repeated experience with the games or the revised structure of the game evoked more cooperation in the second year, outweighing other factors such as education, gender, and trust index scores. After the games were played, a significantly higher proportion of communities have adopted water registers and rules to govern groundwater, compared to other communities in the same NGO water commons program. Because groundwater levels are affected by many factors, games alone will not end groundwater depletion, but can contribute to understanding of the role of crop choice and collective action, to motivate behavior change toward more sustainable groundwater extraction.
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spelling CGSpace1481152024-10-25T08:05:39Z Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S. Janssen, Marco A. Kandikuppa, Sandeep Chaturvedi, Rahul Rao, R. Kaushalendra Theis, Sophie water management collective action groundwater collective behaviour water experimentation stakeholder engagement water governance water allocation Groundwater is one of the most challenging common pool resources to govern, resulting in resource depletion in many areas. We present an innovative use of collective action games to not only measure propensity for collective action, but to improve local understanding of groundwater interrelationships and stimulate collective governance of groundwater, based on a pilot study with NGOs in Andhra Pradesh, India. The games simulate crop choice and consequences for the aquifer. These were followed by a community debriefing, which provided an entry point for discussing the interconnectedness of groundwater use, to affect mental models about groundwater. A slightly modified game was played in the same communities, one year later. Communication within the game increased the likelihood of groups reaching sustainable extraction levels in the second year, but not the first. Individual payments to participants based on how they played in the game had no effect on crop choice. Either repeated experience with the games or the revised structure of the game evoked more cooperation in the second year, outweighing other factors such as education, gender, and trust index scores. After the games were played, a significantly higher proportion of communities have adopted water registers and rules to govern groundwater, compared to other communities in the same NGO water commons program. Because groundwater levels are affected by many factors, games alone will not end groundwater depletion, but can contribute to understanding of the role of crop choice and collective action, to motivate behavior change toward more sustainable groundwater extraction. 2017 2024-06-21T09:23:52Z 2024-06-21T09:23:52Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148115 en http://www.ifpri.org/blog/playing-games-save-water Arizona State University Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; Janssen, Marco A.; Kandikuppa, Sandeep; Chaturvedi, Rahul; Rao, R. Kaushalendra; and Theis, Sophie. 2017. Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India. CBIE Working Paper Series 2017-001. https://hdl.handle.net/10535/10287
spellingShingle water management
collective action
groundwater
collective behaviour
water
experimentation
stakeholder engagement
water governance
water allocation
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth S.
Janssen, Marco A.
Kandikuppa, Sandeep
Chaturvedi, Rahul
Rao, R. Kaushalendra
Theis, Sophie
Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India
title Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India
title_full Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India
title_fullStr Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India
title_full_unstemmed Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India
title_short Playing games to save water: Collective action games for groundwater management in India
title_sort playing games to save water collective action games for groundwater management in india
topic water management
collective action
groundwater
collective behaviour
water
experimentation
stakeholder engagement
water governance
water allocation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148115
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