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International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH)
175 Longwood Road South, Suite 204, Hamilton Ontario L8P 0A1 CANADA
Phone: 1-905-667-5511
Fax: 1-905-667-5510
Email: contact@inweh.unu.edu
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The "Four-Pillars" Approach to Capacity Development
Creating an
Innovative Paradigm
UNU-INWEH has focused on a broad-based assessment of past efforts around the world to manage water in sustainable ways. Experiences from both the North and the South
are considered and lessons learned elsewhere were analyzed for their applicability. The outcome is a new way of looking at sustainability, including:
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A practical understanding of the basic requirements that should be in place or developed in any country, state or municipality for sustainable water stewardship to be effective. |
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Confirmation of the important role of stakeholder consultation and community participation. |
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An explicit, inclusive model that simplifies the essential components of sustainable water stewardship and aids in understanding their interdependency. |
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Clarification of the realities of urban water stewardship, i.e. urban water flows in a continuous loop, interacts with the surrounding and adjacent hydrological basins, and eventually returns to the consumer. Programs that develop a community water culture are required to achieve and maintain sustainability, in addition to the traditional operations, management, enforcement and compliance systems. |
Sustainable water stewardship and the process of developing enabling systems are complex and challenging. To aid in understanding the full range of issues and methodologies, a simple holistic model was developed. This model breaks sustainable water stewardship down into four interrelated categories of activities, each with four components.
Although the model lays out a systematic way to plan for and achieve sustainability, it also allows for an iterative approach in developing and applying solutions. Some countries will not be able to meet the requirements in the foreseeable future, but can begin by putting in pace strategically important components of the overall system. The model provides a context in which these components can be applied and a development process followed.
The Four Basic Requirements
Any nation, state or city planning to develop a water stewardship system needs to satisfy four essential prerequisites for sustainability. These are
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The awareness, understanding and commitment of citizens to the goal of sustainable water stewardship, |
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The human resources available to be educated and trained in the principles and practices of sustainable water stewardship, |
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The financial resources needed to pay for the development and operation of the capacities and enabling systems, and |
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The commitment of the political system to the goal of sustainability and the continuity needed to achieve that goal. |
Developing countries often lack one or more of these basic requirements. When aid funding is provided, it is essential that an informed assessment be made from a long-term, holistic point of view as to where and how these funds can be best applied. Historically, resources have often been applied to worthwhile but isolated efforts, such as institutional strengthening, that failed to have any long-term impact. The poorest of the poor countries are often also encouraged to borrow funds from international financial institutions to purchase engineered infrastructure that cannot be sustained over the long term. These infrastructure projects are often counterproductive to socio-economic development because the associated debt becomes an unsupportable burden to the people of the country.
Experience has shown that a top-down approach to water stewardship is, at best, limited in its effectiveness. Sustainable, responsible use of water begins in the hearts and minds of individuals, who make up neighborhoods, communities, cities, states and nations. The cumulative impact of their attitudes and actions ultimately determines whether or not sustainability is achieved. The importance of this contribution was evident in developing the Four-Pillar Model. Stakeholders from four distinct groups were brought together. They contributed individually and collectively, and defined specific roles for each to play in achieving sustainability. The cumulative effect of this process was much greater than the sum of the individual contributions. The broader perspective that evolved led to more effective solutions. The four groups that need to be involved are:
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The public sector. Within a specific urban community, the water supply and sanitation agency has the direct responsibility to ensure that a sustainable urban water cycle is in place. This includes quantity and quality protection as well as provision of efficient and effective services to users. Officials can also play a facilitating role in non-technical areas such as public awareness building and education. |
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Academia. Academic institutions make an essential contribution to the capacity building component in the areas of applied research, education and training, and develop community awareness on water issues. Academics are trusted by the community and provide a measure of credibility to the capacity building efforts and to the goal of sustainability. |
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Community-based organizations. NGO's and other less formal, community-based organizations can directly reflect the aspirations and concerns of the people and are often created out of a need to solve a problem or have a voice on an issue that directly affects them. These organizations are important because they can serve as bi-directional channels providing information to the people and input into the decision-making process. Generally, the more information provided to, and input received from the community, the greater the commitment of citizens and the more successful the program. |
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The private sector. The private sector has a large vested interest in sustainability. Permanent water management systems and practices create stable markets and support informed clients for sales of products and services. Effective systems and practices reduce risk, improve the return to investors and generate locally-available commodities needed to sustain the urban water cycle. Given the vitally important role of the private sector, it is important that they have a voice in the development of the systems for which they will provide essential products and services. |
Stakeholder engagement is a contentious issue, particularly in countries without a history of democracy. However, in even the least benevolent of regimes, sustainability comes from individual understanding, conviction and behaviour that cannot be forced. Ultimately, regardless of the power structure, it is in the best interests of everyone to inform and consult with the users of the resource and to engage the stakeholders who are responsible for creating and managing the sustainable systems.
The Four Pillars of Capacity Development
The "Four-Pillar" Framework is a visual way of gathering all of the capacities needed for sustainability, and organizing them into categories or "pillars". These pillars include the capacities required at the community, state and federal levels of responsibility. The framework can be used as a matrix to identify gaps in existing capacities according to the four key categories, which can then be organized into a coherent, costed and integrated development plan for implementation.=
The four interdependent pillars used in the matrix are:
Pillar 1 - the capacity to educate and train, including community awareness building, adult training and formal education, so as to provide sufficient numbers of competent human resources to develop and apply enabling systems.
Pillar 2 - the capacity to measure and understand aquatic systems, through monitoring, applied research, technology development and forecasting, so that reliable data is used for analysis and decision-making.
Pillar 3 - the capacity to legislate, regulate and achieve compliance through effective governmental, non-governmental and private sector institutions and through efficient enforcement and community acceptance.
Pillar 4 - the capacity to provide appropriate, affordable water infrastructure, services and products through sustained investment and management by both private enterprises and public agencies.
This easily understood framework is an effective tool for organizing integrated plans of action, for building consensus and for improving equity in the assignment of roles, responsibilities and costs among stakeholders. The model can have broad applicability, suitable for use by all levels of government and for a wide range of issues beyond urban water stewardship, including watershed protection and marine coastal-zone management.
The capacities defined and classified in the Four-Pillar framework should not be confused with sustainable systems and practices. The capacities are in fact the tools that can be used to develop and apply the enabling systems which, when fully in place and functioning, result in supply and demand balance.