Socially Responsive Water Adaptation Planning: Bolivia, Cambodia

This research paper introduces Community-Informed Water Systems Modelling (CI-WSM), a five-phase participatory framework that integrates socio-economic data and local stakeholder input into water planning tools like the WEAP model. Tested in Bolivia and Cambodia, the approach improves the representation of water rights and social inequities to support more inclusive and resilient water management.

• Community-Informed Water Systems Modelling (CI-WSM) is a participatory framework that integrates social dynamics—such as marginalization, cultural norms, and unequal access—into water planning models to ensure these factors are reflected in how water challenges are defined and assessed. It is designed to be flexible and compatible with existing tools like the Water Evaluation and Adaptation Planning (WEAP) model.
• The CI-WSM framework consists of five distinct phases: contextual analysis, co-development with stakeholders, the integration of social and biophysical data for baseline conditions, future resilience analysis using climate and socio-economic scenarios, and the translation of results into actionable policy strategies.
• Testing of CI-WSM in Marquina (Bolivia), Stung Chinit (Cambodia), and Tupiza (Bolivia) demonstrated that combining qualitative and quantitative methods improves the representation of water rights, upstream-downstream inequities regarding water collection burdens, and the relationship between poverty and water use in rural and urban settings.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2026). Socially Responsive Water Adaptation Planning: Bolivia, Cambodia. https://www.sei.org/publications/socially-responsive-water-adaptation-planning-bolivia-cambodia/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Socially Responsive Water Adaptation Planning: Bolivia, Cambodia. 2026. https://www.sei.org/publications/socially-responsive-water-adaptation-planning-bolivia-cambodia/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Socially Responsive Water Adaptation Planning: Bolivia, Cambodia |date=11 February 2026 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/socially-responsive-water-adaptation-planning-bolivia-cambodia/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2026socially, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Socially Responsive Water Adaptation Planning: Bolivia, Cambodia}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/socially-responsive-water-adaptation-planning-bolivia-cambodia/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }