water
Nov 04, 2011
Lands and Rights in Troubled Waters
Friends of the Earth Colombia (CENSAT), civil society organisations and universities have got together to work on a joint project to address conflicts over natural resources, human rights and land rights.
This integrated project will study the conditions, nature and effects of land-use change in the Cauca (Colombia) and Tapajós (Brazil) basins. Land-use change in these areas is related to different processes of exploitation of natural resources, such as the rapid expansion of sugar cane and soy monocultures, deforestation, large-scale industrial mining of minerals and the development of mega-projects using water resources such as hydroelectric power plants. In both cases these changes come along with different forms of conflict, social and environmental harm and human rights violations.
The project tackles the cases from a multidisciplinary perspective with a team of biologists, anthropologists, geographers, criminologists, social workers and activists.
The team realizes a wide range of activities in the field of research and knowledge sharing, capacity building and policy development in their respective countries. They apply innovative methodologies, such as participative action research, ethnography and social cartography as well as critical perspectives from green criminology, political ecology and human rights. Presentation and Poster LAR project.
‘Lands and Rights’ seeks to promote a right-based approach to development, strengthening organizations and communities in their claim for rights and environmental justice. The aim is to learn from the conflicts, to reduce them and to contribute to the rule of law by improving (the implementation of ) public policies regarding natural resource management.
The LAR project is part of the programme CoCooN (Conflict and Cooperation over Natural Resources in Developing Countries) of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Further information
The communications and publications of this project are posted on this blog
Mar 17, 2009
The World Water Forum
Delegates are gathering in Istanbul this week for the 5th World Water Forum (WWF). Meanwhile the Peoples Water Forum is holding solidarity events around the world to mark World Water Day.
The forum, held by the World Water Council, is intended as a space for governments and industry to exchange ideas about conservation and the development of water resources. Critics, including Friends of the Earth International, argue that members are more concerned about restricting access to water and pushing a privatisation agenda.
By way of protest the People's Water Forum is holding solidarity events around the world to mark World Water Day on March 22 by declaring water a human right and a central component of the global commons.
