ABSTRACT
Water is one of the foundational resources required for sustainable development, a process articulated in the Brundtland Report as meeting 'the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs'. Water cultures – control over conceptualisations of access to and usage of water at a variety of spatial and temporal scales – have shaped and been shaped by the socio-economic, cultural and political processes and relationships with the environment. The chapter explores water cultures and practices at three spatial scales – local, sub-national/national, and transnational – and the implications they have for short-and long-term vulnerability and risk. It draws loosely from political ecology traditions around water culture and constructions of vulnerability from the hazards and disasters scholarly tradition, while acknowledging the embedded nature of climate change adaptation (CCA) inside disaster risk reduction (DRR) and sustainable development.
