Culture and Values
Overview
The Culturally Embedded Approach suggests that not enough attention has been placed on factoring in local social and cultural configurations into institutional processes of management of RBOs. Taking a culturally embedded approach is a critical component to strengthen RBO processes in order to go beyond the mere rhetoric of public participation and stakeholder involvement, because it shows that local cultures and values are being taken seriously at the institutional level.
Underlying assumptions
The Culturally Embedded Approach assumes that:
- Culture and values have impact on how individuals think and feel; what people consider important; how people make decisions, behave and negotiate; what people will view as a useful or acceptable solutions to a challenge.
- Culture is time, space and context specific. As such cultural dynamics, both internally (between members) and externally (in terms of the local or regional context within which the organisation has mandate to act), will differ from organisation to organisation. Culture can thus not be assumed to be a homogenous reality, but rather needs to be addressed as a unique dynamic from organisation to organisation.
Usefulness for RBOs
The Culturally Embedded Approach:
- Generates understanding of the construction and resultant consequences of the collective imagination at work in and around river basins;
- Creates space for multiple voices;
- Facilitates participation from stakeholders;
- Incorporates different kinds of knowledge in problem solving processes;
- Mainstreams issues of cultural diversity.