Women, Water and Urban Life February 2021
Leyva Reyes - Social & Urban Design
Introduction ‘Water is considered a source of life and a natural resource that supports the environment and livelihoods; however, it can also be the origin of risk and vulnerability’. According to the UN, one in three people do not have access to safe drinking water. In many parts of the world, where environments have been put at risk and communities remain marginalized, vulnerable sectors of society struggle to have access to water. Within these vulnerable groups, other conditions often intersect such as, poverty and gender identities and roles, which may complicate matters.
In sub-Saharan countries, Asia and Latin America, women are an established vulnerable group in the face of climate change (Arora Jonsson, 2011).
ed a collaboration with the objective to share experiences revolving around water. The main objective is to explore possible solutions and bring attention to these situations. We focus on how women around The UNDP Human Development Reports the world have resisted and taken active from 2006 says, globally, participation in solving water problems, such as, inequality in the distribution, “millions of women and flooding, and drought.
young girls are forced to spend hours collecting and carrying water, restricting their opportunities and their choices”.
This crisis is holding back poverty reduction and economic growth in the world’s poorest countries. Following our commitment to explore solutions where water is scarce in the middle of contested social and urban environments, Beccan Davila Urbanismo and Valeria Leyva Reyes start-
Webinar For the first part of this partnership, we ‘From the moment in which they held a webinar called, ‘Women, Water, have a pre-established role in the and Urban Life’. This event took place at society that keeps them in the the beginning of July 2020 with the particiworld of domestic work and depation of 54 listeners from very renowned prives them of their rights and institutions, such as, Ministry of Housing freedoms, such as the right to and Urban Affairs-Government of India, education, it becomes clear what Environment and Forestry Ministry of Intype of life they will have ahead’ donesia, Water Resources Department said Valeria. Malang District, RWTH Aachen University, BC3 - Basque Centre for Climate Change However, and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, among others. In this webinar, we talk about the invisible relationship between women and the wa- ‘Including women in planning, exter crisis in the urban conglomerations of ecuting, and maintaining existing Iztapalapa, Mexico City and Kannagi Na- and future settlements can imgar, India the consequences in the daily prove upon gender-equal policies life of women, and the impact in the spac- and current sustainable adaptation strategies’, Ishita pointed es of the city.
out.
The investigations and experiences of Valeria Leyva and Ishita Vedamuthu brought very interesting cases which pay attention to the efforts of women dealing with water crisis in Mexico and India.
Online Design Workshop Moving forward with our commitment and interest for this topic, we held an ONLINE DESIGN WORKSHOP. This workshop focused on the current water situation in Mexico and India. Possible strategies and/ or interventions that can contribute to a better water management and to improve the quality of life for women were discussed.
The objective was to visualize the connection between women and water, how they are interconnected and the consequences of this link in the urban realm. The 25 participants were divided in 4 groups coordinated by Valeria Leyva, Ishita Vedamuthu, Adrian Puentes and Araceli Rojas under the general supervision of Nahuel Davila. The workshop consisted in 4 blocks. At the end of the workshop each team presented their most relevant findings. 1. Introduction 2. Google Earth Tour and Mapping the different water and women routes 3. SWOT Analysis 4. Strategy Dvelopment
By mapping the routes of water (water trucks, bottled water, etc) and the routes of the women that walk and fetch water for themselves and their families, we visualized the connection or lack thereof between these routes. This hidden footprint helped us to visualize the problem and revealed points of interest, conflict areas, links to other topics and mark consequences.
Introduction
Google Earth Tour
The organizers introduced themselves, the structure of the work- The participants were divided into 4 breakout rooms on Zoom to shop and elaborated on the topic and goals of the session. start the mapping process. A handbook was provided with the description of each case study. It also had a brief Google Earth Tour on each area. The objective of this activity was to get to know the area, infrastructure, urban space, perceptions, living conditions, etc., and to discuss the most relevant findings, which were: KANNAGI NAGAR - Located in the outskirts of the city. - Rapid urban growth without planning Afterwards, it was given a brief introduction to both case studies: - Vulnerable for Climate Change - Political influence causing improper organization. Case Study 1: Iztapalapa, Mexico City by Valeria Leyva - Sewage mixes with water supply. Case Study 2: Kannagi Nagar, Chennai by Ishita Vedamuth IZTAPALAPA - Presence of water cisterns - Flat roofs - Lack of urban spaces - No street lightening. - Safety issues - Lack of institutionalist. - Sense of community. - Stigmatized neighbourhood.
Mapping The Different Water and Women Routes Block 2 consisted of drawing the hidden footprint of water and women. For this, the participants used the MIRO tool to draw on the same map at the same time. On the map, the following was indicated: - The fictitious location of one water truck, from point A to B. - The fictitious location of 12 women living inside the same neighbourhood. - The unsafe, inaccessible zones of Kannagi Nagar- alleys, abandoned buildings, crime-ridden areas. - The schools, police station, parks in the neighbourhood. It was important to try to find synergies, links to other topics, problems, points of interest, etc., and make a conclusion or what can be seen or perceived with these maps. The activity was to make the water truck go from point A to B in the most efficient way having in mind that it needs to deliver water inside the neighbourhood before reaching point B. Each team mapped how the water was distributed. What is its route? Is it distributed equally? Does it arrive at the most affected areas? On the same map, there were 12 fictitious women locations, and the objective was to map the route that these women need to take to go and fetch water. Taking into account their (hypothetical) daily activities- in and around the neighbourhood, varying number of members per household, COVID-19 risks, to mention a few.
RESULTS: KANNAGI NAGAR
IZTAPALAPA
SWOT Analysis Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats In block 3, a SWOT analysis was conducted to know what is happening inside the neighbourhoods. SWOT is a very useful, and widely used technique to ask important questions about the situation in which planning is taking place.
SWOT Kannagi Nagar
SWOT Iztapalapa
Strategy Development Block 4 was about developing a strategy that could improve the current water stress situation.
Strategies Kannagi Nagar - Education & women empowerment inside the community - Engaging with residents - both men and women
Strategies Iztapalapa: - Collect – Recycle – Reuse - Rain water harvesting
1.The water truck might have strategic meeting points where the women can go to fetch water. Water truck route characteristics •The water truck needs to have as straight route as possible, while making adequate meeting points for the women. •The possible route has to avoid dangerous streets and high-speed streets Meeting points characteristics •Meeting points of a radio of maximum 200m for walking/carrying distance •Possibly linked to other public spaces (schools, parks, markets…) where they can wait or develop other activities STRATEGIES Rainwater harvesting
Conclusion At the end of the workshop, each team presented their case study with the most relevant findings: - If all the problems faced are in the first line in their livelihoods, what would be the strategic activities to move from the zero-day water trap? - How streets can be made safer, interactive, and livelier for the residents? - How can the Government help in improving the quality of life of the residents? - We need to start involving women in decision making processes. - Harvesting rain water has a lot of potential. - Encouraging the use of water on its whole cycle. - Involve men and women in training programmes.
Follow-up Project and Feedback a) Follow-up Project The team wants to bring to reality the participatory mapping process in each country (Mexico and India). We want to be on-site with the people and community leaders and perform with them the mapping, listen to their needs, and involve them in the process. This will allow us to gain real and deeper insights to design a master urban plan that can contribute to improve and increase their quality of life. b) Feedback After the workshop we requested the participants to give feedback and rate the activity, here are just a few of the comments we received: - The organization and logistics. Awesome to manage Zoom in plenary and smaller rooms. - The interactive Miro, handbook and Google Earth Tour were incredible. - No matter the location, a workshop can be done. - More time to share experiences and interaction. - Excellent interactive tools to work with people all over the world. - I like that it made possible to connect with other people
Who we are? Nahuel is an urban planner and architect, with extensive experience working on local and international projects. He has contributed to a number of designs and strategies for an efficient use of space, water management and resilience. Nahuel is a strong defender of interdisciplinary and holistic approaches which stem from the local cultures and knowledges. He believes that participatory urban planning, in which stakeholders engage to find solutions themselves, guarantees a sustained development of projects.
Valeria Leyva Reyes is an Architect and Urban Planner. She holds a specialisation in Sustainability and Climate Change. She had her own architecture firm in Mexico and afterwards worked for different NGOs in India and the Netherlands. Nowadays, she is an entrepreneur with a company called Leyva Reyes – Social & Urban Design based in Rotterdam and focuses on projects related to water from a gender perspective and in inclusive urban design.
Ishita Vedamuthu is an Architect and Urbanist by profession, she found her forte in academics in Chennai, India, which led her to pursue a research degree with a specialization in Urban Environment, Sustainability, and Climate Change in the Netherlands. She is currently working as an architect and independent researcher in Chennai.
Araceli Rojas is an archaeologist and currently a Postdoc Researcher at the Institute of Iberian and Iberoamerican Studies, at Warsaw University, Poland. She has dedicated mainly to the study of Mexican precolonial manuscripts and the on-going use of Mesoamerican calendars among indigenous people in Oaxaca. Araceli has also carried out research on water control systems of Mexico’s remote and recent past. She currently is engaged in a project which attempts to revitalize water control systems of Monte Alban archaeological site, Oaxaca, in order to achieve a better quality of living on its city-surroundings. She collaborates with the Dutch office, Beccan Davila Urbanismo, where she works on interdisciplinary projects aimed at the rescue of water archaeological, cultural, and natural heritage.
Adrian Puentes is an experienced Architect with a demonstrated history of working on urban strategies. Adrian is skilled in Participatory Urban Planning, Sustainable Design, Water Management, and Design Research. Strong arts and design professional with a Master of Arts in Architecture (MArch) from Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (Netherlands).
If you are interested in a collaboration or you have an idea or a project, please contact us: Nahuel Beccan Davila info@beccandavila.nl www.beccandavila.nl +31 6 44 960 325 Valeria Leyva Reyes valeriaa.leyva@gmail.com +31 6 49 975 954 Ishita Vedamuthu ishitavedamuthu@gmail.com +91 99629 96392 Adrián Puentes arqapuentes@gmail.com +54 9 358 422 4292 Araceli Rojas xicallicoliuhqui@gmail.com +31 6 38252131