Context
Overview
Context refers to the inter-relatedness of immediate or specific features of a socio-cultural (including historical), political, economic, and biophysical situation or environment. Understanding context in a holistic and integrated way is thus essential for a multi-dimensional appreciation of the complexity of any situation or environment. In terms of river basins and the organisations that manage them, such an understanding of the biophysical, political, economic as well as socio-cultural context enables River Basin Organisations (RBOs) to design its roles and responsibilities in a context-specific manner and conduct sanctioned projects that have credibility and legitimacy with both local and external stakeholders.
Acknowledging and understanding the different contexts within which a RBO may operate is also essential for the successful implementation and application of tools and approaches designed to augment its operational praxis. More particularly, the way in which such tools and approaches incorporate and recognise different modes of knowledge construction, world views, values and meaning application, and expression of self (different voices being heard) is inextricably bound by the context within which they will operate. This is both a consequence of their design as well as their overt response to contextual differences.