Water Cultures

The project addresses water-related environmental issues in Latvia from the perspectives of social sciences and humanities. The goal of the project is to enhance the understanding of human-water relations in Latvia given its water-rich ecological context. The theoretical framework of the project is built around the concept of water cultures. Water cultures are used as a holistic approach to analyse the changing waterscapes and emerging hydrosocial ecologies with a focus on the diverse ideas, meanings, narratives, practices, politics and human-nonhuman engagements. 

The interdisciplinary project team consists of scholars with an academic and research background in environmental and cultural geography, social and environmental anthropology, landscape studies, political ecology, environmental philosophy and ethics. The project employs an integrative research methodology of both qualitative and quantitative research methods (such as participatory mapping, interviews and surveys) with a strong focus on stakeholder engagement. 

The key tasks research addresses are 1) to identify and critically reflect on the dominant human-water relationships and narratives; 2) to identify and consider alternative ways of thinking, engaging and living with water. The research will analyse the current water-related politics, hydrosocial history, and ecologies of specific regional waterscapes, as well as the diverse ways of human-water and human-nonhuman engagements. 

The project will have a threefold contribution. The project will strengthen the interdisciplinary research capacity and establish a hydrosocial research strand in Latvia. The research results will provide a comprehensive understanding of the development of human-water relations and waterscapes in Latvia, broadening the concept of water cultures in water-rich ecological contexts. The research results will add to the policy debate regarding sustainable water governance, environmental protection and planning. They will also enrich the contemporary public debate on water-related resilience and the possibilities for a more inclusive, responsible and ethically aware society-water relationship in the long term. 

Project contact person: Senior Researcher, PhD Anita Zariņa, e-mail: anita.zarina@lu.lv 

Funding organisation: Latvian Council of Science
Project No.: lzp-2023/1-0248 
Project implementer: University of Latvia (Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, Faculty of History and Philosophy)
Project duration: 01.01.2024–31.12.2026