The dialogue of knowledge is a moment where local communities and water sector representatives can engage in dialogue to exchange information and cooperate with each other. Without dialogue of knowledge, it is difficult to build participation and trust as local stakeholders, as users, and experts do not necessarily identify each other’s contributions and added values.
The dialogue of knowledge should enable water sector experts to identify the knowledge of communities that is important for water management and for making water management resilient to climate change. It should also enable communities to know what actions, interests and perspectives water sector institutions have.
The identification of knowledge is made possible through the use of participatory techniques such as social mapping and social photography register.
Social photography is a technique that complements social mapping. It consists of asking each participant to take photographs – with their phone – of places that are important to them and that are affected by climate change. These can be water infrastructures or also specific natural spaces related to water and interdependent water access activities.
Guidelines for social photography
- Local authorities and community leaders should choose the people in charge of taking the photographs, ensuring that there is parity between the number of women and men.
- Choose the place or places to be photographed, according to the relevance of each area prioritised according to the theme, which should revolve around water and livelihoods vulnerable to climate change.
- Allow adequate time for them to make the photographic record.
- Download the photos onto a computer and place them on a social networking platform such as Facebook to share with the water sector entity team for future dialogue.
- During the dialogue, each photograph will be shown or projected and participants will talk about each image.
- The water sector entity team and the community members discuss their impressions of the importance of the sites and what can be done there, in terms of technical aspects.
- After the dialogue of knowledge, the representatives of the water sector entity prepare a report with the photographs and share it with the community.
Social mapping is a tool that allows communities to identify the places that are important to them in terms of their use, their social meanings and values, and the issues they face.
Guidelines for making water-related social maps or mapping
- Form groups of 5 or 6 people, making sure that these groups are made up of equal numbers of women and men.
- Provide one or two flipcharts, a colouring box or coloured markers for each group.
- Ask them to draw their community and the water resources/water sources as well as places that are affected by climate change that they took pictures of.
- Place their pictures on the map.
- Ask each group to explain their drawing and photographs, suggesting that they explain why they prioritise these places, what uses they have, what problems occur there and what can be done about the problems.
- Ask what knowledge/practices they think help them to use water optimally and prepare for climate change and its impacts.