Earthna's Call for People-Powered Water Solutions

Ammon

23-04-2025

Ammon News -
*The Water Crisis Needs More Than Tech — It Needs UsBy Batool GhaithDoha - Under the theme 'Building our Legacy: Sustainability, Innovation and Traditional Knowledge', the 2025 Earthna Summit highlighted the importance of trusting people over technology in the fight against water scarcity.The second Earthna Summit, held on April 22–23 in Doha, Qatar, brought together global experts, policymakers, and community leaders to explore sustainable solutions tailored for hot and arid environments. The summit emphasised the integration of ancestral wisdom with modern innovations to address pressing environmental challenges.Organized by the Earthna Center for a Sustainable Future, a non-profit policy research and advocacy center established by Qatar Foundation, the event featured expert panels, interactive discussions, and community-driven exhibitions across Doha.The session titled 'Water Scarcity: Exploring Sustainable Solutions for Resilience', focused on water as both a quantity and quality issue.Ann-Perry Witmer, a teaching associate professor, said 'our biggest challenge is assuming we already have the answers, as technology sometimes makes us feel stuck.'She emphasized the importance of respecting knowledge, regardless of whether it comes from academic institutions or traditional experience. 'If we do not respect the knowledge that exists where we are working, we cannot solve any problems.'Rajendra Singh, Chairman of Tarun Bharat Sangh, noted that the solutions to climate-induced water challenges must begin locally.'Climate change is a global problem, but the solution is not global,' he said. 'It is a local solution rooted in traditional knowledge. Traditional knowledge is time-tested success.'Singh emphasized the importance of approaching these crises with respect for ancestral wisdom, underscoring that community-based approaches offer powerful ways forward.With a parallel view, Mansour Qadir, Deputy Director of the United Nations University Institute of Water, Environment and Health, said, 'we often ignore the critical importance of indigenous knowledge and the context in which it exists.'He emphasized that water scarcity is not only about quantity but also quality and resilience. Qadir also highlighted the need to recognize the role of women in community-based solutions. 'If we actively engage women, create ownership, and appreciate their role, we can significantly improve local water supplies.'On another note, Senior Advisor Raha Hakimdava stressed the importance of understanding and appreciating water as a living element, not just a resource.'We have learned to bring water from the sea and from the air, these are innovations we should be proud of,' she said. 'But technology alone will not solve our challenges.'Hakimdavar argued for deeper awareness of where our water comes from, as modern urban societies grow detached from its sources.She added that part of the solution lies in bringing ancestral heritage and modern science together.The speakers agreed that successful water management depends on collaboration, not only across scientific disciplines and policy frameworks, but also through meaningful engagement with the communities most affected by water scarcity.*Empowering Communities: The Role of Women in Tackling Water Scarcity in MENAEngaging women in sustainable water practices is key to unlocking community-based solutions that address both climate change and daily survival needs, according to Mansour Qadir, Deputy Direction United Nations University Institute of Water Environment and Health.Sustainable water solutions are urgently needed in the Middle East and North Aftica (MENA) region due to accelerating climate change and deepening water crises.Qadir, as a leading expert on water scarcity and reuse, emphasised that the key is not only in high-tech interventions, but also in empowering the people most affected, especially women.'While technical solutions for global water scarcity exist, community-based interventions have tremendous potential, especially when women are fully engaged. Qadir told Ammon News.In many isolated or rural communities, women are the ones who walk hours each day to fetch water, he explained, making them not only key stakeholders but essential agents of change.'If we engage women at the community level and create a sense of ownership, we can tremendously improve the potential of local water supplies,' he elaborated.'The whole package of clean water access, economic empowerment, and girls' education becomes possible when we recognize and invest in the role of women,' Qadir added.Turning to the region's broader challenges, Qadir stressed the urgency of innovative action in one of the world's most water-stressed areas, including Jordan.He emphasized the need for both large-scale infrastructure and smaller, community-driven interventions that reflect the country's specific environmental realities.'Countries like Jordan face worsening water scarcity. We are seeing a mix of large-scale solutions like desalination and wastewater reuse,' he said.Yet beyond the high-tech solutions, Qadir stressed the vitality of smaller, locally adapted and community-based techniques such as micro-catchment and rainwater harvesting systems.'These are applicable in those areas where the rainfall is so small, such as in the case of Jordan, where the water that drops through rainfall just goes back to the environment if we do not capture it,' he explained.Qarir noted that establishing small-scale rainwater harvesting systems, communities could collect that water for purposes such as growing shrubs for fodder and providing water for livestock, practical steps that could make a real difference in rural areas.He also highlighted the growing interest in weather modification technologies like cloud seeding, which several countries in the MENA region are currently exploring and investing in.However, Qadir emphasised that there is no set or blanket application of all these technologies which could be used across the region.'One may work in one place, another in a different place. That's why it's so important to have collective action—not only from policymakers and professionals but from community leaders and, more importantly, the active members of the community,' he continued.'Women must be part of this collective response. Their role is critical and must not be overlooked,' Qadir stated.