Building bridges over troubled water: reflections from dialogues on Öland

by Carolin Seiferth

Friday 27 Sept 2024, 16:00 → 17:30 Europe/Stockholm

The Swedish island Öland has experienced extreme weather events over the past years, leading to low groundwater levels, recurring droughts, and water shortage. While there is agreement that these and similar sustainability challenges need to be addressed through collaborative efforts, water governance on the island remains siloed. To bring different actors together to jointly discuss the problem and different pathways forward, I initiated and facilitated a workshop series to ensure an inclusive, community-based approach to managing water in the landscape, for example through wetland restoration. By applying different tools such as photovoice or walking workshops, I supported actors in connecting their respective knowledge on climate change and resource governance.