As a common pool resource with high subtractability and low excludability, water is easily depleted if no effective coordination exists among users to ensure provision and regulate withdrawals. Overuse of groundwater resources is particularly challenging, as declines are not directly visible. In India, where more than 85 percent of domestic water and over 60 percent of food production depend on groundwater, about half of all wells show falling water tables, and current trends of over-extraction will put at least 25 percent of agricultural production at risk within 20 years. The majority of India’s population is estimated to face physical water scarcity for at least part of the year, with 600 million people living in areas of high to extreme water stress. As water management is highly complex, with many users sharing the same resource, often unknown to each other, stopping overuse is difficult, especially when it is more profitable to irrigate water-consumptive crops than water-conserving crops.
The project “Scaling up experiential learning tools for sustainable water governance in India” aims to enhance sustainable water management at scale by improving the capacities of 1,500 rural communities covering 105,000 households directly and 2,000 communities covering 140,000 indirectly in six Indian states to manage water more sustainably. This will be achieved through experiential learning from collective action games, structured community debriefings, and participatory water planning tools that contribute to greater awareness and improved governance, inducing behavioural change toward more sustainable water management.
IFPRI and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) will work with partners at the Indian NGO Foundation for Ecological Security under its Promise of Commons initiative, India’s premier training center for agricultural extension services the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), and Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg (MLU Halle) to scale-up experiential learning tools for water resources management across India.
Recent Project Outputs:
Janssen, Marco A.; Falk, Thomas; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; and Vollan, Björn. 2023. Using games for social learning to promote self-governance. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 62(June 2023): 101289.
Sandhu, Harpinder; Zhang, Wei; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; ElDidi, Hagar; Perveen, Saiqa; Sharma, Janvi; Kaur, Japneet; and Priyadarshini, Pratiti. 2023. Valuing ecosystem services provided by land commons in India: Implications for research and policy. Environmental Research Letters 18(1).
IFPRI, ICRISAT, FES, and MLU-Halle. 2023. Scaling up experiential learning tools for sustainable water governance in India (2020-2023). PowerPoint presentation given during the FIA 2023.
Meinzen-Dick, R., W. Zhang, and H. ElDidi. 2023. Games for Social Learning on (Ground) Water Governance. PowerPoint presentation during the interactive session for World Bank South Asia Region Regional Retreat, World Bank, USA. March 6, 2023
Zhang, Wei; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela; Valappanandi, Sanoop; Balakrishna, Raksha; Reddy, Hemalatha; Janssen, Marco A.; Thomas, Liya; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Kandicuppa, Sandeep; Chaturvedi, Rahul; Ghate, Rucha. 2022. How do game design, gender, and players’ backgrounds affect behavior in framed field experiments? Evidence from community forestry in India. International Journal of the Commons 16(1): 341–359.
Foundation for Ecological Security 2022. Commoning Water: Playing Games to Strengthen Water Governance. PowerPoint presentation given during the Atal Bhujal Yojana Training, India, December 8, 2022
Foundation for Ecological Security 2022. Water as commons: Field stories (Understanding links between human actions and resource outcomes). PowerPoint presentation given during the Atal Bhujal Yojana Training, India, December 8, 2022
Bartels, Lara; Falk, Thomas; Duche, Vishwambhar; Vollan, Björn. 2022. Experimental games in transdisciplinary research: The potential importance of individual payments. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 113.
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Singh, Subrata; Mittal, Rajesh, and Falk, Thomas. 2022. Commoning Water: Experiential Learning Tools to Strengthen Water Governance. PowerPoint presentation given during the Wednesdays for Water Forum, November 23, 2022. [Presentation] [Video]
Meinzen-Dick, Ruth. 2022. Tools for Groundwater Governance. Presentation given during the CGIAR NEXUS Gains Initiative Webinar Talks 6: Tools for Groundwater Governance, November 16, 2022 [Video]
Priyadarshini, P. and R. Sunil. 2022 Commoning Water: Reflections from using experiential learning methods and tools to strengthen water governance. Presentation given during the CGIAR NEXUS Gains Initiative Webinar Talks 6: Tools for Groundwater Governance, November 16, 2022 [Video; starts at 23:53]
Meinzen-Dick, R. 2022. Water and Collective Action. PowerPoint presentation given during the Annual Workshop of the Scaling Up Experiential Learning Tools for Sustainable Water Governance in India project, Horsley Hills, Andhra Pradesh, India, October 17-20, 2022.
Falk, Thomas; Meinzen-Dick, Ruth; Priyadarshini, Pratiti; Singh, Subrata and Mittal, Rajesh. 2022. Social Learning in Games: Stimulating institutional and Behavior Change in Relation to Water Use in India. PowerPoint presentation given during Stakeholder Consultation with Agriculture Department Bureaucrats from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, India, 4pm IST, August 4, 2022 (virtual).
Meinzen-Dick, R., Falk, T. (presenter), Zhang, W., Seema, S., Priyadarshini, P., and Sanil. R. 2022. Strengthening local groundwater governance through experiential learning. Poster presentation during the International Conference on Groundwater, Key to the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris, France, May 18-20, 2022.
Meinzen-Dick, R., T. Falk (presenter), P. Priyadarshini, S. Singh, and R. Mittal. 2021. Gaming the System: Stimulating Rules and Behavior Change for Governance of Groundwater Use in India. PowerPoint presentation presented in Session 2. Economics of Groundwater Extraction and Policy during the International Conference of the Indian Society for Ecological Economics, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, December 15-17, 2021
Falk, T., W. Zhang, R. Meinzen-Dick, and L. Bartels. 2021. Games for Triggering Collective Changes in Natural Resource Management: Four Cases from India. Poster presentation given during the Tropentag Conference: Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future organized by the University of Hohenheim, Germany, September 15-17, 2021. [Abstract] [Poster]
Bartels, L., T. Falk, and B. Vollan. 2021. Incentivized Payments in Experimental Games Can Lead to Behavioural Change. PowerPoint presentation given during the Tropentag Conference: Towards shifting paradigms in agriculture for a healthy and sustainable future organized by the University of Hohenheim, Germany, September 16, 2021. [Abstract] [Presentation]
Meinzen-Dick, R, T. Falk, W. Zhang, P. Priyadarshini, and I. Soliev. 2021. Games for Triggering Collective Change in Natural Resource Management. Description of organized symposia during the 31st International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), August 27, 2021
Falk, T., W. Zhang, R. Meinzen-Dick, and L. Bartels. 2021. Using Games to Trigger Collective Changes in Natural Resource Management: Conceptual Foundations for Behavioral Change. PowerPoint presentation given during the 31st International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), August 27, 2021 [Abstract] [Video]
Falk, T., W. Zhang, R. Meinzen-Dick, and L. Bartels. 2021. Lessons Learnt from Four Case Studies Using Games for Social Learning in India. PowerPoint presentation given during the 31st International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), August 27, 2021 [Abstract] [Video]
Priyadarshini, P. 2021. Challenges and Opportunities for Achieving and Measuring Impact of Social Learning at Scale. PowerPoint presentation given during the 31st International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), August 27, 2021 [Abstract] [Video]
Soliev, I. 2021. Discussion Points: Games for Triggering Collective Change in Natural Resource Management. PowerPoint presentation given during the 31st International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), August 27, 2021
ElDidi, H. and R. Meinzen-Dick. 2021. UNFSS Science Days: Promise of the commons for sustainable and equitable food systems. Event blog. July 12, 2021
Sandhu, H. 2021. Quantifying ecosystem services: role of commons in supporting food systems. PowerPoint presentation given during the UN Food Systems Summit Science Days Side Event, July 7, 2021
Priyadarshini, P. 2021. Promise of Commons. PowerPoint presentation given during the UN Food Systems Summit Science Days Side Event, July 7, 2021
Meinzen-Dick, R. 2021. Promise of the Commons for Sustainable and Equitable Food Systems: UNFSS Science Days Side Event. PowerPoint presentation given during the UN Food Systems Summit Science Days Side Event, July 7, 2021
Falk, T., R. Meinzen-Dick, P. Priyadarshini, S. Singh, and R. Mittal. 2021. Social learning in games: Stimulating Institutional and Behavior Change in relation to Water Use in India. PowerPoint presentation given during Methods Workshop at the “International Association for the Study of the Commons: Water Commons Virtual Conference, May 21, 2021 [Abstract]
Foundation for Ecological Security, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, and International Food Policy Research Institute. 2021. Commoning the Commons: A Sourcebook to Strengthen Management and Governance of Water as Commons
Meinzen-Dick, R., T. Falk, P. Priyadarshini, S. Singh, and R. Mittal. 2020. Gaming the System: Stimulating Rules and Behavior Change for Governance of Groundwater and Conjunctive Use in India , PowerPoint presentation given during Plenary Session 5. “Groundwater Governance, Management & Policy” at the International Water Resources Association Conference (virtual), October 29, 2020 [Abstract]
Singh, S., P. Priyadarshini, R. Meinzen Dick, R. Mohanty, and T. Falk. 2020. Commoning Water – Co-creating Knowledge and Institutions for Conjunctive Use of Water, PowerPoint presentation given during Plenary Session 9. “Groundwater Education & Capacity Building” at the International Water Resources Association Conference (virtual), October 30, 2020 [Abstract]
Falk, T., V. Duche, Suhas K.S., I. Agrawal, and L. Bartels. 2020. The Role of Community Institutions in the Management of Water Infrastructure in the Context of Madhya Pradesh, India. J. Indian Water Resourc. Soc. 40 (3&4): 36-46
- This paper was the recipient of the Best Paper Award 2020 at The Indian Water Resources Society, August 12, 2022.
