Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, Spain
The Hydrosocial Cycle (HSC) has been widely applied and discussed as a consolidated research line to rethink the contemporary challenges that condition the urban and agroecosystem nexus. However, additional research directions are still open to guide policy and decision-makers in reinforcing stakeho...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fagro.2023.1057211/full |
| _version_ | 1827891607843635200 |
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| author | Sandra Ricart Sandra Ricart Rubén Villar María Hernández-Hernández María Hernández-Hernández Antonio M. Rico-Amorós Antonio M. Rico-Amorós Jorge Olcina-Cantos Jorge Olcina-Cantos Carlos Baños Carlos Baños |
| author_facet | Sandra Ricart Sandra Ricart Rubén Villar María Hernández-Hernández María Hernández-Hernández Antonio M. Rico-Amorós Antonio M. Rico-Amorós Jorge Olcina-Cantos Jorge Olcina-Cantos Carlos Baños Carlos Baños |
| author_sort | Sandra Ricart |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Hydrosocial Cycle (HSC) has been widely applied and discussed as a consolidated research line to rethink the contemporary challenges that condition the urban and agroecosystem nexus. However, additional research directions are still open to guide policy and decision-makers in reinforcing stakeholders’ engagement and interaction to resolve tensions between water demands. This perspective paper suggests updating the HSC approach to improve the analysis of stakeholder interaction when addressing water scarcity in waterscapes. After briefly review the most relevant contributions of the HSC approach in the last two decades, we develop a preliminary framework to reinforce stakeholders’ interdependence analysis by designing a questionnaire to synthesize five main behavioral patterns conditioning stakeholders’ interactions: relevance, representativeness, recognition, assessment, and collaboration. Then, each pattern is organized in a triple-loop approach: to be, to do, and to share to characterize the mutual (mis)understanding of the stakeholders. The results of its application to Benidorm (south of Spain), a mass-tourism destination coexisting with rural development in tension for water supply, exemplified how 1) most stakeholders consider themselves important, but some of them are unaware of the role of others, 2) all stakeholders receive a higher punctuation in terms of functions rather than actions, and 3) all stakeholders agree on the benefits of the predisposition of parties (willingness) to achieve agreements in the short or medium term. Future research should consider how to address the lack of representativeness and power imbalance together with mechanisms to reinforce longitudinal studies in which actions from stakeholders could be contrasted. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:28:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-02f4acdf661f426d9c3581baad453c54 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-3218 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T21:28:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-02f4acdf661f426d9c3581baad453c542023-07-28T00:37:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Agronomy2673-32182023-07-01510.3389/fagro.2023.10572111057211Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, SpainSandra Ricart0Sandra Ricart1Rubén Villar2María Hernández-Hernández3María Hernández-Hernández4Antonio M. Rico-Amorós5Antonio M. Rico-Amorós6Jorge Olcina-Cantos7Jorge Olcina-Cantos8Carlos Baños9Carlos Baños10Water and Territory Research Group, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainEnvironmental Intelligence for Global Change Lab, Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, ItalyWater and Territory Research Group, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainWater and Territory Research Group, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainDepartment of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainWater and Territory Research Group, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainDepartment of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainDepartment of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainLaboratory of Climatology, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainDepartment of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainLaboratory of Climatology, Interuniversity Institute of Geography, University of Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante, SpainThe Hydrosocial Cycle (HSC) has been widely applied and discussed as a consolidated research line to rethink the contemporary challenges that condition the urban and agroecosystem nexus. However, additional research directions are still open to guide policy and decision-makers in reinforcing stakeholders’ engagement and interaction to resolve tensions between water demands. This perspective paper suggests updating the HSC approach to improve the analysis of stakeholder interaction when addressing water scarcity in waterscapes. After briefly review the most relevant contributions of the HSC approach in the last two decades, we develop a preliminary framework to reinforce stakeholders’ interdependence analysis by designing a questionnaire to synthesize five main behavioral patterns conditioning stakeholders’ interactions: relevance, representativeness, recognition, assessment, and collaboration. Then, each pattern is organized in a triple-loop approach: to be, to do, and to share to characterize the mutual (mis)understanding of the stakeholders. The results of its application to Benidorm (south of Spain), a mass-tourism destination coexisting with rural development in tension for water supply, exemplified how 1) most stakeholders consider themselves important, but some of them are unaware of the role of others, 2) all stakeholders receive a higher punctuation in terms of functions rather than actions, and 3) all stakeholders agree on the benefits of the predisposition of parties (willingness) to achieve agreements in the short or medium term. Future research should consider how to address the lack of representativeness and power imbalance together with mechanisms to reinforce longitudinal studies in which actions from stakeholders could be contrasted.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fagro.2023.1057211/fullHydrosocial Cyclewicked problemssocio-ecological systemsstakeholderssocial learningparticipation |
| spellingShingle | Sandra Ricart Sandra Ricart Rubén Villar María Hernández-Hernández María Hernández-Hernández Antonio M. Rico-Amorós Antonio M. Rico-Amorós Jorge Olcina-Cantos Jorge Olcina-Cantos Carlos Baños Carlos Baños Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, Spain Frontiers in Agronomy Hydrosocial Cycle wicked problems socio-ecological systems stakeholders social learning participation |
| title | Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, Spain |
| title_full | Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, Spain |
| title_fullStr | Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, Spain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, Spain |
| title_short | Reinforcing the Hydrosocial Cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders’ interdependence in urban agroecosystems: a local test in Benidorm, Spain |
| title_sort | reinforcing the hydrosocial cycle to foster water governance and stakeholders interdependence in urban agroecosystems a local test in benidorm spain |
| topic | Hydrosocial Cycle wicked problems socio-ecological systems stakeholders social learning participation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fagro.2023.1057211/full |
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