Water governance and immigrants in Western democracies: A systematic review

Abstract

Immigrants in western democracies are becoming an important social and demographic group. The extent to which water governance processes and structures are positioned to create space for engagement for these newcomers is not well-understood. We employ a systematic review of the literature to determine the extent to which participative (including collaborative) water governance approaches incorporate voices from immigrant communities. We conduct a systematic search of the relevant literature on participatory water governance over the five-year period 2015-2019 to assess the nature of participation by immigrants in water governance. Results from review of articles that directly focus on participatory to water governance indicate that the water governance research community has been slow to recognize distinctive immigrant voices in research. We discuss how such lack of attention is closely tied with issues of justice and fairness as well as its implications for effectiveness of policies aimed water sustainability.