Water systems are of fundamental importance for all societies. They influence the society in numerous ways – and are at the same time influenced by various societal forces. In analogy with other socio-technical systems, such as energy systems and communication systems, water systems have historically been shaped – and continue to be shaped today – by ideologies, actors, institutions and politics. These strongly influence the systems, e.g. regarding the choice between large- and small-scale systems or about who controls the systems. Therefore, it does not suffice with only scientific and technical perspectives to understand the water systems and their dynamics, but we need also to analyse the systems from a societal perspective. The socio-technical perspective, which puts equal emphasis on the social and technical dimensions of the systems becomes particularly relevant when we try to understand and manage water-related crises in the form of e.g. pollution, epidemics, accidents, droughts, floods and climate change. Crises can give rise to conflicts but they can also create new development opportunities, technical and organisational solutions and strategies and changed views on how the systems can and should function.

The course explores water systems in their societal complexity – historically, in the present and with outlooks to the future. The focus is on the systems' socio-technical properties and on the interplay between people, technology and environment, as well as on a number of central ideas that shape the development and dynamics of the systems (e.g. modernity, circularity, resilience and sustainability). Political aspects of hydraulic engineering will play a large role. The course starts out by analysing historical examples of water systems in order to understand the societal factors that have shaped them. Then follows a more present-day perspective, where the focus is on case studies of water systems in different parts of the world and different societal contexts to highlight, how different actors think about and manage water systems in different ways. The course draws on ongoing research in history and social sciences to develop an ability to think critically and deepen the understanding of water systems in a societal perspective.

After passing the course, the student should be able to:

-        - Compare and contrast different historical and present-day ideas about water systems from a societal perspective (e.g. modernity, circularity, resilience and sustainability)

-        - Define and use theoretical concepts that explain the development and dynamics of water systems

-        - Account for how crises of different kinds contribute to water systems' further development with regard to actors, institutions, technology and politics

-        - Analyse and criticise scientific and non-scientific texts and statements about water systems locally, regionally and globally

-        - Formulate a historical or social sciences research question about water systems, carry out a literature study and write a paper that contributes to new insights about water systems in society

This course consists of 7 lectures and 4 seminars. Seminars and lectures take place during Wednesday evenings, between 17.15 -19.00. Both seminars and lectures will occur on-site at KTH Campus with the support and guide of expert lecturers on water and society from KTH and the seminar leaders.

Examination is continuous and occurs through short text assignments and seminar participation, and at the end of the course through the completion of an individual essay. The final grade is based 100% on the grade of the essay and the whole course is therefore structured in a way that aims to train you to write a high-quality essay in the field of water systems in society.

Lectures: you prepare for these by reading the course literature for each lecture occasion (see the detailed plan below), completing the related text assignments (submit them in Canvas) and then attend the lecture. NOTE! Lecture attendance is compulsory and required to complete the text assignments.

Seminars: A very important part of the course are the seminars, of which there are four.

Seminars are convened by a seminar leader. Attendance at these is compulsory and you are expected to participate actively! You will also need to attend these seminars on-site at KTH Campus. At the seminars you will have the opportunity to analyse texts, define your essay topic, formulate research questions, conduct literature source criticism and provide and receive feedback on your essay.

All seminars require you to have completed preparatory assignments at the latest 10.00 am the day before the seminar via Canvas. Detailed instructions about preparation tasks for each seminar will be posted in Canvas!

Essay: During the course of the project, you will write an individual essay. The essay should not exceed 2000 words (excluding references and bibliography) and should take the form of a longer text on the theme of water systems in society. The essay can focus on historical examples of water systems, present-day examples or a combination of both.  You can choose to write your essay on a topic of your interest but consider developing themes such as the historical emergence of a new water system, a technical or organisational water innovation, an important political decision or a response to a water related crisis.

To obtain a good grade in the essay, emphasis will be placed on being able to apply one or more theoretical concepts discussed in the lectures and developing your reasoning with good argumentation. Read carefully the assessment criteria for the essay that can be found at the end of this course memo.

We will work on the different parts of developing the essay during seminars:

- Choosing an essay topic. In the second seminar you will discuss your essay plan with your peers and refine your research questions. The essay plan is submitted by 10 am the day before via Canvas.

- Literature source criticism. In the third seminar you will work with comparing and contrasting different types of literature sources related to preselected thematic areas (i.e. flood management). A 300-600 word assignment will be submitted, latest 10 am the day before the seminar.

- Discussion of essay draft.  In the fourth seminar you will discuss the draft of your essay with your peers. You will also give feedback on your peers’ essay drafts. In your feedback, you should use the assessment criteria as a reference on how to work towards a high grade. You report your comments to peers during the seminar orally. The draft essay must be at least 1000 words (excluding references and list of sources) and submitted by 10 a.m. the day before via Canvas.

- The final version of your paper will be submitted via Canvas by latest 8 p.m on Monday, 5th of June, 2023. By the same date you must also have completed all assignments!

Missed submissions for seminars and lectures will result in your final essay grade being lowered by one grade point (from A to B, from B to C, etc.). If you miss two submissions, your final grade will be lowered two grade points etc.

Lecture 1: Course Introduction

Time: Wednesday, 22/3, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Timos Karpouzoglou

What is the course about? What does it mean to analyse water systems in society? We will go through the objectives of the course and the different elements: lectures, modules, seminars, essay - and assessment criteria.

 Recommended reading:  

Karpouzoglou, T., & Vij, S. (2017). Waterscape: a perspective for understanding the contested geography of water. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 4(3), e1210.

 Assignment:

What is your view about water and society and how they are interrelated? In the paper under recommended reading, the concept of waterscape is introduced. What does a waterscape encompass and how do you relate this to real examples?

Submit a 300–600 word reflection latest 10 am the day before the lecture.

Lecture 2: Transnational water relations - a historical perspective

Time: Wednesday, 29/3, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Per Högselius

In this session we analyse water in transnational perspective. This includes themes like cross-border canal-building, cooperation and conflict in shared river basins, inter-basin water transfers and the infrastructural colonization of the seas. We will discuss both historical and present-day cases and cover geographical regions from Europe and Asia to Africa the Americas.

Required reading:

Högselius, P. H., Kaijser, A. K., & van der Vleuten Vleuten, E. (2016). Troubled waters. In P. Högselius, A. Kaijser, & E. van der Vleuten (Eds.), Europe’s Infrastructure Transition: Economy, War, Nature (p. Chapter 7). Palgrave McMillan.

Assignment:

The contested Crimea peninsula is a very dry place. Try to find out from where the Crimea sources its water, and how has its water situation changed through the Russian annexation in 2014 and the recent outbreak of war in mainland Ukraine? 

Submit a 300–600 word reflection latest 10 am the day before the lecture.

Lecture 3: Infrastructure heterogeneity and green/blue/grey infrastructure for water management

Time: Wednesday, 5/4, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Joe Mulligan 

Required reading:

Mulligan, J., Bukachi, V., Clause, J. C., Jewell, R., Kirimi, F., & Odbert, C. (2020). Hybrid infrastructures, hybrid governance: New evidence from Nairobi (Kenya) on green-blue-grey infrastructure in informal settlements. Anthropocene, 29, 100227.

Assignment:

What are some of the intractable issues with "green infrastructure" in the context of rapidly urbanising cities? How applied a concept is blue/green infrastructure in your own city, and what were the factors for its relative stage of development or use? Who should have responsibility for drainage infrastructure?

Submit a 300–600 word reflection latest 10 am the day before the lecture.

Seminar 1: Analysing texts

Time: Wednesday, 12/4, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Alicia Gutting

Assignment:

Read the text and analyse how the author develops his argument. What are the main arguments of the author? Does the author answer his main questions? Do you see any strengths or weaknesses?

Submit a 300-600 word assignment latest 10 am the day before the seminar.  

Required reading

Saravanan, V. (2020). Water and the Environmental History of Modern India. Bloomsbury Academic. Read chapter 4: Water supply schemes and conflict, p. 99-128.

Lecture 4: Urban nature does not stop at the waterfront: The case of street fishing in Stockholm

Time: Wednesday, 19/4, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Anja Moum Rieser

Research on green urban spaces has established their important values and functions in cities. However, less attention has been given to blue urban spaces (i.e. water fronts and waterscapes). This lecture will use the example of Stockholm, to show how urban dwellers use and depend on urban blue spaces for recreation, food, and general well-being, with a specific focus on recreational fishing. Recreational fishing serves as an interesting entry point to several urban processes concerning sustainability and justice issues, as well as understanding how people interact with nature.

Required reading:

Joosse, S. et al. (2021). Fishing in the city for food—a paradigmatic case of sustainability in urban blue space. Urban Sustainability, 1(1), 41.

Assignment:

Is there access to waterfronts in the city/town you grew up in or have lived in, and if so have you observed how people manage and use these blue spaces? What values and functions do you think urban blue spaces should provide in a city, and for whom? What kind of trade-offs and different interests do you think exist when planning the various waterfronts in a city?

Submit a 300–600 word reflection latest 10 am the day before the lecture.

Seminar 2: Finding a topic for the essay and formulating research questions

Time: Wednesday, 26/4, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Timos Karpouzoglou

Assignment:

Write a short essay plan that contains stating your preliminary research question, a preliminary outline with a few lines about the intended content under each sub-heading, and a preliminary list of the sources you intend to use and how you will obtain them. Perhaps you have also already identified a theoretical concept that seems useful for your proposed paper?

Be prepared to discuss and give feedback to each other on the essay drafts.

Submit your essay plan latest 10 am the day before the seminar.

Required reading:

Read carefully instructions in course document ‘Tips for writing your essay on water and society’

Lecture 5: Winners and losers during transition: The case of urban water and energy systems in Sweden

Time: Wednesday, 3/5, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Timos Karpouzoglou  

Globally, there is an increasing consensus around the need to realise deep transformations in vital sectors of society such as those related to urban water supply and energy, particularly in cities where the largest share of the global population is living. In Sweden, a new kind of transition is taking place that cuts across traditionally disconnected domains of innovation around water and energy. In this lecture we will explore the kinds of winners and losers associated with this transition and discuss how it is negotiated along particular trajectories by a range of actors.

Required reading:

Karpouzoglou, T. et al. (2020). Winners and losers during transition: the case of urban water and energy systems in Sweden. 11th International Sustainability Transitions Conference.

Assignment:

In the required reading examples of winners and losers are discussed.  Can you think of other similar situations where winners and losers can emerge in a water/society context? What types of arguments are particularly important for how winners and losers establish their positions?

Submit a 300-600 word reflection latest 10 am the day before the lecture. 

Lecture 6: Thousand years of cooperation to control the flow of water in the Netherlands

Time: Wednesday, 10/5, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Arne Kaijser

Windmills and dikes are characteristic features of the Dutch landscape. They have been crucial components in a complex system for controlling water flows and preventing floods. How did this system develop? How was cooperation between different actors necessary to build and maintain it? How did the system change over time? These are the main questions for this lecture.

Required reading:

Kaijser, A. (2002). System Building from Below: Institutional Change in Dutch Water Control Systems. Technology and Culture, 43(3), 521–548.

Assignment:

Discuss the similarities and differences between the development of Dutch water systems with some other kind of system demanding cooperation among many people, for example the building of rural roads or urban sanitation in your own country. Try to use Elinor Ostrom´s concepts in your discussion.

Submit a 300–600 word reflection latest 10 am the day before the lecture.

Seminar 3: Literature source criticism

Time: Wednesday, 17/5, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Alicia Gutting  

Assignment:

You will be assigned to a group based on preselected thematic areas (e.g. flood management) and you will be given 3-4 different texts (including newspaper articles, websites and reports) discuss what types of arguments the texts develop. What are the different positions of the authors? Before the seminar familiarise yourself with the texts and try to identify any key differences in how they argue their points. 

Submit a 300-600 word assignment, latest 10 am the day before the seminar.

Lecture 7: What is good water quality?

Time: Monday, 24/5, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Alicia Gutting

The access to safe drinking water and sanitation is an internationally recognised basic human right. Standards however vary and not in all places safe drinking water can be guaranteed. In this lecture we will discuss what good water quality actually means, how people have detected violations of safe drinking water and how issues with water quality have been dealt with politically.

Required reading:

Pauli, B. J. (2020). The Flint water crisis. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 7(3)

Assignment:

Write a summary of the text where you highlight the major factors that led to the Flint crisis. Do you think something similar could happen in Sweden or are you aware of similar cases from a country where you have lived? What was the response on a societal and on a political level? Submit a 600 word reflection latest 10 am the day before the lecture.

Seminar 4: Peer to peer feedback on essay drafts

Time: Wednesday, 31/5, 17.15 – 19.00

Location: L44

Teacher: Alicia Gutting    

Assignment:

Prepare and submit your essay drafts. Your draft essay must be at least 1000 words (excluding references and list of sources). In addition you will also read and provide feedback to one of your assigned peers. A useful tip for preparing your feedback is to refer to the assessment criteria for the essay (end of this document) and to identify key areas of improvement based on this. 

Essay drafts should be submitted by Friday (26/5), and feedback on the drafts provided by Tuesday 10 am (30/5) via canvas.  

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• INL1 - Assignment work, 7.5 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Essay Assignment, 4.0 credits, grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, Fx, F.

This part of the examination consists of the above mentioned essay.

Assignments for lectures and seminars, 3,5 credits, grading scale: Pass, Fail.

This part of the examination consists of all other assignments.

Assessment criteria for the essay assignment

The below table provides a description of how the essays will be graded.  You must achieve at least an E in all seven criteria in the table to pass.

Once you have achieved this, your final grade is then determined by a weighting (average) of the seven component grades. For example, to achieve a final grade of A you must have an A in at least 4 of the 7 sub-grades.

If for some reason you absolutely cannot submit your assignment on time, we may (reluctantly!) accept supplementary assignments. 

If for any reason you should miss a lecture or seminar, you need to make up for this with an extra assignment that will be no less demanding than attending the lecture/seminar.  In that case, contact the course responsible for details.

The reporting of grades will occur via LADOK. 

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.