Between October and December 2023, Dennis Wilke, a doctoral student at the Institute of Geography and the Institute of Environmental Systems Research at the University of Osnabrück, conducted field research in Costa Rica. Wilke’s research project, entitled “Potentials of Community-Based Drinking Water Management and Pathways towards Adaptive Capacity to Water Scarcity – A Multi-Case Study of Costa Rican Communities,” examines the potential and challenges of community-based water management in Costa Rica. The objective of this research is to identify the circumstances that lead to high adaptability of community-based water organizations to increasing water scarcity in the province of Guanacaste.
During his time in Costa Rica, he met with representatives of the water authority AyA, managers of community-based drinking water organizations, the so-called ASADAs and FLUs, second-level organizations that offer support to ASADAs. He visited San José, San Carlos and Guanacaste, among others. The data gathered in this first field phase will be analyzed by applying Qualitative Content Analysis in order to determine the context-specific components of the concept of adaptive capacity. Subsequently, in 2024, a second field visit will be conducted, during which a greater number of communities in the province of Guanacaste will be studied comparatively.
We are looking forward to a follow-up of this interesting research project!