Call of Papers – Water governance, sustainability, and global climate change - Revista Sociedad Hoy No. 31 / 2024

Today's world is in turmoil, impacted by multiple crises that are complex to understand and solve. It is the result of an accumulation of unresolved historical-structural problems and new problems that saturate and make human life vulnerable and put planet Earth at risk. An expression of this crisis is the scarcity of water resources that affects many societies and global climate change. This issue of the journal Sociedad Hoy will deal with these topics.

In times of water crisis, such as the one we are experiencing, there is a need to reflect on different alternative solutions, which will probably no longer be universal, but rather plural, depending on the type and level of the impacts of the crisis, as well as the specific characteristics of the regions and localities affected by water scarcity.

In this sense, local practices, knowledge, traditions and life experiences, territorial water governance and solutions to various socio-ecological problems at different scales, represent important spaces for community management of water resources, social coexistence and co-production of goods and knowledge. The new reality already tells us that for these solutions to be truly effective and be projected sustainably over time, these spaces require the support of local, regional and public-state institutions, as well as private ones. And, of course, they also require the support of universities. This will certainly require a more present State and also new institutions present in the territories: close to citizens, indigenous communities, young people, boys and girls, women, workers, producers, willing to contribute to the solution of water problems.

On the other hand, within the framework of the current evolution of modern society, the accumulation of information and the development of scientific knowledge and new technologies, there are possibilities and opportunities to establish a synergistic and positive interrelation between scientific advances and traditional knowledge, produced, cared for, applied and preserved as genetic and cognitive banks by diverse peoples and, especially by indigenous and traditional communities in the world. Also existing in Chile and Latin America.

On the other hand, seeking effective alternatives to confront the water crisis in contexts of crisis and global climate change requires new cultures, new leaderships, new visions, renewed public policies and new lifestyles and sustainable development models. In this sense, it is thought that the multi-crisis of the Anthropocene era could give rise to the transition towards a new era, demanded and expected by millions of citizens, who, disappointed and outraged by the neoliberal capitalist model, mobilize in different places to demand: healthy living conditions, quality of life; sustainable development in common goods such as water, basic foods, the atmosphere, the seas, clean air, good social relations, the protection of biodiversity, green production, renewable energy and sustainable governance of water resources.

This issue of Sociedad Hoy Journal will be dedicated, in broad terms, to publishing unpublished articles on water governance, sustainability and global climate change and the various alternatives and potential for local, regional, national, and global solutions. We want to be a space for dialogue and collaboration to address in an integrated and sustainable way the solutions that from the natural and social sciences, in alliance and collaboration with traditional local experiences and knowledge, are proposed as alternatives to overcome the present global crisis. that affects more than two billion people in the world who struggle to survive in serious situations of lack of drinking water, socio-ecological vulnerability, and abandonment of States.

We thank you in advance for your valuable contributions to this current international debate.

 

We appreciate the support of this issue of the Journal of the Center for Water Resources for Agriculture and Mining, ANID/FONDAP/1523A0001, University of Concepción, Chile.