ABSTRACT
Decision-making processes have greatly evolved through time. Within the context of debates on sustainable development and of efforts to consolidate environmental governance, ways to make them more participatory and focused on practical know-how are becoming desirable and necessary. Taking this as a premise, this introduction explains why focusing on indigenous communities and their natural resources management practices could be helpful. In particular, it highlights the interrelation that exists between indigenous communities and their natural environment through agro-ecology and water management practices that give them resilience despite harsh external constraints. In the context of Morocco, this introduction therefore presents the relevance of exploring both the identity of the Berber people and their water heritage in the two chapters of Part I. The objective is to approach the revival of the Berber movement through an ecological economics perspective, in view of identifying potential strategies to face increasing harsh environmental (and sociopolitical) constraints in a semi-arid country. Whilst Morocco is not considered as a “developing country”, its will to embrace sustainable development objectives is confronted to various possible paths to modernity and development. This introduction asks how digging into its own heritage could help it identify appropriate paths for the future.
