Key Learnings
People and the environment are connected by a bi-directional relationship.
Connection to Nature
The relationship between people and their natural environment has been examined through various studies before. Some studies show how being in nature can improve a person’s mental and emotional wellbeing (Murdoch). Other studies go further to demonstrate that the benefit pathway operates in both directions and that the natural environment also benefits from this connection (Charles et al.). These studies establish that a lack of connection to nature is a cause for people’s apathy towards environmental degradation and protection.
Most papers also define a “connection to nature” as starting as knowledge or awareness but that it grows to have a deeper connection–one of enjoyment of nature, empathy and respect for other life, and a sense of responsibility for environmental futures. Wright and Matthews (2015) state, “Nature connectedness refers to the degree to which individuals include nature as part of their identity through a sense of oneness between themselves and the natural world.”
Studies on this concept are often based on the Biophilia hypothesis that was popularized by E.O. Wilson. In his book Biophilia, Wilson talks about the role of a relationship between humans and the natural environment in conservation and environmental stewardship (Wilson). Biophilia categorizes the values of the natural world into Aesthetic, Dominionistic, Humanistic, Moralistic, Naturalistic, Negativistic, Scientific, Symbolic, and Utilitarian (Charles et al.). Later research showed that the values of Naturalistic, Humanistic, Symbolic, Moralistic and Aesthetic were the most powerful dimensions.
For the purposes of this thesis, I will be using the categorization developed by Whitburn et al. (2019) in their Meta-Analysis of Human Connection to Nature and Proenvironmental Behavior. They synthesize the metrics used in various past studies into three broader categories:
- Affect – feelings towards nature
- Cognition – knowledge and beliefs about nature
- Behaviour – actions and experiences in nature
Instead of looking at nature as a whole, my work is focused specifically on the natural source of water. This project works to create connections between water users and the specific source of their water.
Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours
Individuals who are more connected to nature have increased Pro-Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours (PEAB) or “actions which contribute to environmental protection and/or conservation” (Whitburn et al.). These behaviours are typically measured through self-reporting or observation and include practices that occur in public (e.g. attending activism events) and private (e.g. recycling) (Zhong and Shi). Stern (2000) also creates a distinction between those environmentally significant behaviours that have intention and those that have impact.
The focus of this project is on water, and the environmental behaviours I will be looking at are guided by the philosophy of FORCE, a New Delhi based non-profit I partnered with while working on this project. The key principles of this philosophy are:
- reduce wastage of water,
- re-use used water,
- recharge groundwater,
- recycle wastewater and,
- respect water
There are rich stories along water’s journey.
The Facts
I began the process of mapping water in Vasant Kunj with a heavy focus on quantitative data; collecting information on latitude and longitude, climate change indicators, water quality, and water availability. The goal of this process was to paint an accurate and clear picture of the current situation. The next step with data collectedwas to map it using the Probable Futures Pro tool. This provided a look at significant points along the water’s journey and how they will impact warming climate scenarios.
The Stories
Through the process of collecting factual pieces of information, I also came across rich stories about the natural sources. These stories don’t necessarily provide the hard facts in an abbreviated structure, but instead, they build a larger narrative about individual pieces of the water’s journey. These narratives have been more impactful and emotionally compelling; they have a certain human quality and poetry about them.
The first story I came across was about the Western Yamuna Canal, which you can read more about in the Yamuna section of this website.
Talking with Jyoti Sharma, the founder of FORCE, a local water sustainability organization, provided another story. We were talking about the water’s journey, and she told me about her experience at Tehri Dam. She described the beauty and abundance of the Bhagirathi River streaming down the mountainside and how once it reached 855 feet of concrete the movement and appearance of water changed completely. The rushing stream stopped. The water got completely still. She said it felt like the water was trapped, and there was a clear demarcation between the natural and the human-made world. In her words, that experience pushed her to want to “free the water,” and this is what continues to motivate her work today.
Facts seem to bring about exposure and knowledge, but it is through stories that the connection to nature begins to shift into Wright and Matthews’ idea of “oneness with nature.”
Understanding the Current State
With incredible support from FORCE, I was able to conduct door-to-door surveys with residents in Vasant Kunj, a middle socio-economic neighbourhood that has continuous access to piped water. A total of 48 people participated in this initial round of research, and the respondents included a diverse array of people from tailors to homemakers and retired professionals. Some of the key findings are summarized below.
The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is the top of mind source
The majority of respondents, 33 out of the 48, identified the DJB when asked what their source of water is. Only 2 respondents identified natural sources, such as a river or the water table, as their source of water.
Opportunity: Increase knowledge and awareness of what local water sources are.
Knowledge about natural sources is unclear and vague
When prompted specifically about the environmental source of water, many individuals were able to name specific rivers. However, most respondants also said that they believed that those natural sources are sustainable. They were not sure what issues of sustainabillity might relate to them.
Opportunity: Build understanding of key factors that influence natural and urban systems, connect physical locations with narrative story memories.
Water conservation was identified as a necessity by some participants
When asked what needed to be done to prepare for future water shortage problems, participants identified conservation as a needed practice in their community. Many respondents also knew about water conservation techniques, even though more than half of the respondents did not practise them.
Opportunity: Create ease and access to use specific conservation practices.
Theory of Change
Increasing Water Conservation Practices through a Connection to Nature
The topic addressed in this thesis is a complex and large one. It is not something that an individual can wrap their arms around, grasp, and shift. Instead, I have looked at smaller actions and pre-conditions that are first necessary to achieve the larger goal of increasing the sustainability and regeneration of water resources in New Delhi, India. There are many ways one might tackle this, and a lot of reform is required to achieve this desired future state (e.g. change in policy, innovative product design, community activism etc.). This project is focused on individual attitudes, emotions, and behaviours regarding water, and how there can be a shift in those practices to be more considerate of, and concerned with, the environmental systems water users are dependent on to promote conservation.
To create this vital pre-condition of conservation, the goal of this thesis is to build a connection between water users and their natural water sources. People’s connection to nature influences their level of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours or PEAB (Whitburn et al.). This project leverages that influence, with a narrower focus on the source of water rather than nature as a whole to increase pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours related to water resources.
As previously mentioned, I am using the categorization developed in the Meta-Analysis of Human Connection to Nature and Proenvironmental Behavior. The Theory of Change directly pulls from the three categories of (1) Affect – feelings towards nature; (2) Cognition – knowledge and beliefs about nature; and (3) Behaviour – actions and experiences in nature.
The outputs of Where’s your water from? all connect directly to the first two categories of Affect and Cognition. At this stage and scope of the project, there aren’t any components that enable residents to physically spend time out in nature with their natural water source, but it is a key next step for scaling in the future.
The intervention consists of three main parts, that are conducted in sequence. The first step in the project was (A) Mapping. This involved visiting water locations around Delhi, talking with local subject matter and people with lived expertise , collecting data and stories, and documenting everything for the subsequent steps. After the data and narrative were collected, they were distributed with community members in the (B) Sharing step. The information was first chunked out into more digestible bites in the form of various printed matter. The stories were shared with residents through multiple small-scale, intimate chai or tea gatherings. These gatherings are titled Paani ke baare mein chai or A Tea about Water. To support the continuity of this project past the end of this semester, the (C) Sustaining step was implemented. The website contains all the tools for anyone interested to host another Paani ke baare mein chai, including details about the three water sources highlighted in this project, printable materials, background information on the water situation in Delhi, and a guide to the Chai. It is a tool for future use and a place of reference for folks who attended a Chai.
Environmental Impact Assessment
Location Environmental Priorities
Water scarcity and pollution: There is an ever-increasing demand and a falling supply of water in New Delhi. The only river, the Yamuna, is immensely polluted with domestic waste and industrial dumping, so it is too toxic to be treated and used once it crosses into the city. Increased dependence on groundwater without sufficient replenishment is also leading to a falling water table and consequent land subsidence.
Extremely poor air quality: Delhi is one of the worst polluted cities in the world and the average amount of particulate matter each year is over ten times the WHO guidelines (IQAir). Air pollution was responsible for 1.6 million premature deaths in India in 2019. The impacts of air pollution also disproportionately harm poor and unhoused communities within the city that are not able to adequately shelter from or filter polluted air. (New York Times).
Project Type: Workshop; Field Research and Documentation
Probable Impacts And Mitigation techniques
Travel to different water locations
- Related Factors: Transportation
- Probable Impacts: Rising global temperatures; extreme weather conditions
- Mitigation: traveling to locations closer together on the same day (e.g. visiting facilities around Okhla one time so that multiple trips don’t need to be made to that area); carpooling with community partners and subject matter experts
Printing workshop materials
- Related Factors: Deforestation
- Probable Impacts: Rising global temperatures; extreme weather conditions
- Mitigation: Printing FSC-certified paper that is responsibly sourced; re-using photographs for each workshop; setting up files so that multiple assets are printed on the same sheet (e.g. three checklists can be printed on one A4 sheet)
Alternatives Analysis
Alternative 1: No-action
By not completing this project, residents will not learn more about or build connections to their natural water sources. There will not be any conversation about water scarcity and the impacts of climate change. In a no-action scenario, no related change in water conservation attitudes or behaviours would occur.
Alternative 2: Digital medium
An alternative could be to conduct the chai workshops online and not share print materials. However, there is less of an interpersonal connection in this medium, and the sharing of stories doesn’t flow as naturally. Having the stickers and the checklist to take away after the chai works as a future reminder and continuation of the intervention.
Conclusion
The goal of this project directly addresses one of the key environmental stressors of Delhi, and its direct environmental impact is for the larger purpose of a more sustainable city. The bulk of the travel-related impact occurs during a single visit towards the beginning of the project during the documentation and story-gathering phase. Once that is complete, the nature of the project is to disseminate the information on a small and intimate community scale.