A Transdisciplinary Approach to Water Access: An Exploratory Case Study in Indigenous Communities in Chiapas, Mexico
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Conceptual Approach
Service-Dominant (S-D) Logic and Water-Related Challenges
3. Research Setting and Methods
3.1. Data Collection
3.2. Focus Groups
3.2.1. Indigenous Communities (ICs)
3.2.2. Key Stakeholders
3.3. Lead Author’s Observations
4. Findings
4.1. The Problem of Availability and Access to Clean Water
4.1.1. Indigenous Communities (ICs)
The stream is in a private source and the owner denies the access to it. We can’t do anything about it, he does not listen, and all he wants is the money. So, we can’t have piped water like many other communities and the authorities don’t do anything about it.(52-year-old male)
You see it all the time. People put waste in a lorry and they dump it in the streams because there hasn’t been any refuse collection for weeks.(35-year-old male)
The young people don’t participate in the community and they just don’t care much about water. They are not worried about not having clean water because they always carry bottled water or drink [fizzy drinks]. I just explain to people that water is better and healthier, and you can use it to make nice juices.(20-year-old male)
There is a tradition in our culture to protect our springs … our sources of water and we are happy when the rain comes because we know that there will be plenty of water … young people, they don’t see that, they just go to the shop and buy a bottle of mineral water.(36-year-old male)
People just drink water; they don’t want to drink safe water. They don’t see the danger of drinking any water. So, in order to change, you need to change people’s habits first.(45-year-old female)
4.1.2. Key Stakeholders
No-one in the communities would adopt such systems, while they leave a taste of chlorine in the water.(Health Authority)
4.1.3. Lead Author’s Observations
4.2. Cocreating Value for Water Access, Sustainability and Development
[…] considers the supernatural beings of the water sources, predominantly the ladies or mothers who inhabit them, and with whom community sostain (sic) a permanent relationship that promotes fisical (sic) as well as ritual caring for water and territory to be inherited to future generations.(italics in the original, p. 21)
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Aged 18–25 Years (n = 5) | Aged 26–35 Years (n = 2) | Aged 36–45 Years (n = 2) | Aged 46–55 Years (n = 1) | |||||
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Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
Group 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
Group 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
Group 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Sources | |||
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Indigenous Communities | Key Stakeholders | The Lead Author’s Observations | |
Issues |
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Rondón-Sulbarán, J.; Balam, I.; Brennan, M. A Transdisciplinary Approach to Water Access: An Exploratory Case Study in Indigenous Communities in Chiapas, Mexico. Water 2021, 13, 1811. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13131811
Rondón-Sulbarán J, Balam I, Brennan M. A Transdisciplinary Approach to Water Access: An Exploratory Case Study in Indigenous Communities in Chiapas, Mexico. Water. 2021; 13(13):1811. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13131811
Chicago/Turabian StyleRondón-Sulbarán, Janeet, Ian Balam, and Michael Brennan. 2021. "A Transdisciplinary Approach to Water Access: An Exploratory Case Study in Indigenous Communities in Chiapas, Mexico" Water 13, no. 13: 1811. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13131811