WATERWEAVE

Inspiration

Due to the complex and interconnected nature of ecosystem services and the multiple demands placed on them by human activities, trade-offs may need to be made. For example, ecosystem services may need to be provided using aquatic ecosystems,  when tensions are exacerbated not only by climate change and a higher occurrence of extreme events but also by an increasing demand for water and land use changes. Finding new, innovative ways of managing water resources, while preserving freshwater ecosystems and ensuring equitable access to their services, is a major challenge that must be addressed by demonstrating how  societies and ecosystems are intertwined.

Innovation

To advance research on this pressing topic, WATERWEAVE brings together an interdisciplinary and international consortium that will develop an integrative and interactive tool (IIT) to promote social learning and help manage water resources and freshwater ecosystems in the context of land use and climate change. The IIT will combine biophysical determinist, probabilistic and data-driven models to represent ecosystem functioning and ecosystem service provision, and multi-agent-based interactive models to represent the social components of the system. It will be kept simple to ensure easy handling, straightforward interpretation and adaptability to the local context. Its development will be nurtured by interactions with a panel of key stakeholders recruited from three test sites in Brazil (Sao Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and Pará states) and one in Luxembourg.

At each site, starting with a diagnosis of freshwater ecosystems, including the associated services and demand, using existing scientific and local knowledge, datasets and models, we will debate water and related ecosystem issues, identify the main direct and indirect drivers –including governance systems – and frame the scope of the IIT within the project lifetime. Next, we will initiate a retrospective analysis using existing datasets and models complemented by sediment core sampling targeting e-DNA and anthropogenic contaminants. This will be conducted in close collaboration with the stakeholder panel and through the lens of public policies and management decisions and will highlight the success or lack of success of past measures and define realistic management scenarios to explore as a guide for the further development of the IIT. Finally, we will explore prospective scenarios driven by future climatic projections for different greenhouse gas emission scenarios.

IMPACT

The IIT will enable the stakeholder panel to test its management proposals for different time horizons and explore alternative scenarios by modifying decisions or social behaviour to collectively find more sustainable ways forward for their territory. The retrospective and prospective activities with the IIT, which aim to investigate the effectiveness of past decisions and collectively define new governance systems, and water and ecosystems management strategies, will increase socio-ecological resilience while guaranteeing equitable access to ecosystem services.