Chang, Chew Hung

The concept of “waterscapes” is examined, with a focus on applications in secondary schools and the pedagogy for undergraduate geography students. The waterscape emphasis on external flows of capital, political relations, and policy that interact with the physical watershed, as well as the hydrosocial cycle, are particularly well suited to support teacher pedagogical content knowledge because of the flexibility in interpreting and applying concepts using what we have termed “the shallow sustainability approach”. Employing case studies from the Singapore geography curriculum, we explore new pathways for the traditional interpretation of waterscapes that include linking mathematical modelling of hydrologic systems with rich local narratives.

Our paper provides an introduction to, and context for, the 10 papers that comprise this special volume: Waterscapes Asia: Concepts and Practices. We discuss the various interpretations of what is meant by a “waterscape” and suggest some ways forward that may provide a bridge between the theoretical waterscapes framework and practical considerations that we hope will make the waterscapes concept more broadly useful. These 10 papers, representing contributions from India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Indonesia are decidedly applied and consider issues of inequitable socio-hydrological conditions that are impacted by flows of capital, political relations, and policy. Yet, they also represent efforts in quantifying water quality and quantity within the human-natural system nexus, and most importantly, the central theme of familiarisation as a path to more effective waterscape management.