Dr Samantha Kies-Ryan from Earth Water People recently collaborated with PLAN International Solomon Islands (PISI), Live and Learn Environmental Education Solomon Islands (LLEE), the Griffith University’s International Water Centre (IWC) and Solomon Islands National University (SINU) on the Community-to-catchment planning for inclusive, climate-resilient WASH systems in Solomon Islands research project (C2C). The research collaboration was funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Water for Women Impact and Innovation fund.
Brendon Teava, Esther Tangithia, Collin Benjamin and Tema Wickham facilitating the inter-community dialogue in Verahoia at the end of the dialogical process. Photograph taken by Tema Wickham.
The purpose of the research was to increase water stewardship in the community, raising awareness of the health of the catchment and its importance to a healthy water supply, and that having access to healthy, clean water is everyone’s responsibility. The research built on the work that had already been done by PISI, LLEE, IWC and SINU in Community Water Safety Improvement Planning Cycle 1, increasing community awareness and planning around hazards and risks to the water system- the water source, taps and pipes that brings the water supply to the community. It broadened out the scope of the research to include the broader catchment, and raising future hazards and risks to the water sources that can come about due to climate change.
Esther Tangithia from LLEE pinning up the photo stories and the action plans that came out of the community dialogues.
The collaboration applied Dr Samantha Kies-Ryan’s PhD research on using creative visual methods to facilitate community cultural engagement in water management in the Solomon Islands and adapted it in a practice context in the Solomon Islands. The team co-designed the research process during co-design and writing workshops, before testing the process out in two communities in Western Guadalcanal. The results are an implementation guide and a case study on the dialogical processes that have been created.
Samantha also undertook a Political Economy Analysis on water catchment governance in the Solomon Islands. She also created briefing notes condensing the findings and recommendations on ways forward that came out of the Political Economy Analysis and Social Network Analysis to be presented to national stakeholders and the broader WASH sector. These are yet to be publicly released.
The research process was co-designed by a talented team with a range of different experiences and backgrounds in practice and research. Going clockwise from the bottom left- Brendon Teava from LLEE, Mary Tahu, Joe Hagabore and Collin Benjamin from SINU, Esther Tangithia from LLEE and Tema Wickham from PISI. Photograph by Samantha Kies-Ryan.
Workshops involved teaching youth in the two communities photography and about the water cycle and the interconnections between the catchment and their water supply, and having them take photos that document the state of health of the water catchment. They then create photo stories that discuss their hopes and concerns for the catchment. These are then presented to their community in a community workshop. The men and women in the community have a chance to select photographs that represent the water catchment as it was in the past, is now, and could be in the future. The community discusses concrete actions that can be taken to protect their catchments, as well as choosing stories and spokespeople that can be taken to the inter-community dialogue. The final step is a meeting between communities in the same catchment, to show and discuss their stories, hopes and concerns about the catchment and come up with collective actions.
Youth in the research workshop in Verahoia discussing the photo stories they have made about the current state of health of their water catchment, and their concerns and hopes for the future and calls to action.
Preliminary research findings found that the youth taking photographs of the current state of health of the catchment provided a trustworthy local evidence base and changed people’s perspective around their catchment. This was particularly the case for some of the elders and even members of the water committees who had not seen the water source in decades. Photography and the photo stories was an effective way to engage youth in the workings of the water committee, but requires further support. Research participants reported that it was the first time that they had taken part in an inter-community dialogue, and they valued it highly. In particular, the water committee members appreciated the opportunity to engage the broader community and other community, in the work of enforcing and broadening the community water safety plans. The dialogue did stir up the desire for collective action, and with sustained support it has the potential to create sustainable outcomes.
A community member writing up the action plan coming out of the inter-community dialogue.
Samantha presented her PhD research, as well as co-presenting the findings from field testing the photo voice process with Tema Wickham, at the Water and WASH Futures conference in Brisbane on February 13 and 14 2023. For more information on this research or to collaborate with us in the future, please email us.