A transdisciplinary exploration of resilience : the case of the Parys water supply and sanitation system

Abstract

The community of Parys is experiencing persistent water and sanitation problems despite various interventions. The problems are interconnected and emanate simultaneously from the human (individual, social and government), the support (economic and infrastructure) and the natural (environment and resource) systems. These systems are coupled and referred to as a social-ecological system. The major finding was that the reason behind the persistence of the problems is the so-called “Nature flat view” that stakeholders have of the Parys water and sanitation system (WSS) which is a social-ecological system. This view is not an ideal foundation from which to address the WSS problems since it does not adequately consider the complexity and dynamics of the WSS. The research highlights a more appropriate approach, i.e. the emerging Nature evolving view of social-ecological systems. Its concepts of adaptability, transformability, resilience, the adaptive cycle and panarchy were used to explore the WSS problems and to propose interventions. The interventions focus on stakeholder comprehension of the complexity and the dynamics of the WSS as well as its management through managing its resilience. A transdisciplinary research approach was used to explore the loss, creation and maintenance of resilience of the WSS. It was supported by the selected research paradigm (constructivism), design (qualitative) and strategies (phenomenological and case study). The data-capturing methods involved stakeholders’ participation through semi-structured interviews (12 stakeholders); visits to municipal works (12 stakeholders); meetings with municipal workers (7 stakeholders); multi-stakeholder workshops (64 stakeholders) and a feedback meeting (28 stakeholders).