Knowledge mobilisation

Mobilisation was achieved through economic valuation of water resources, provision of locally available information and capacity building for learning and leadership.

  • The project’s Living Water Partnership established a Payment for Ecosystem Services scheme in Guatemala to protect and restore the Tacaná Watersheds’ natural resources, focussing primarily on water. 
  • WANI facilitated grassroots mobilisation in Mexico through the establishment of the ‘virtual water resource libraries’ in the town halls of five municipalities. These provided access to up-to-date information and knowledge on water resources and the environment in the region. 
  • Learning from the pilot projects under WANI has been incorporated into the University of San Carlos’s academic studies through 10-month internships. These programmes are creating a critical mass of professionals trained in WANI concepts, approaches and practice who will eventually go into professional positions in different institutions and organizations active in the area, creating an influential feedback loop.
  • Trust and good relationship with local institutions.
  • Locally available information. 
  • Generation of local knowledge leads to more disaster preparedness and increasing political openness over water at the municipal and State levels.

  • The scope of the project could have been wider in terms of stakeholder partnerships. The private sector was included in payments for watershed services schemes in the middle part of the catchment, but only for smaller scale holders. In the lower part, large palm and banana tree growers from Guatemala use large amounts of water with no compensation for water retention services upstream.