Editorial: Participatory and Just Governance: Empowering Local and Indigenous Communities

Authors

• Melissa Haeffner, Portland State University
• Maiko Sakamoto, Department of International Studies, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
• Jenia Mukherjee, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India
• Hong Quan Nguyen, Institute for Circular Economy Development (ICED), Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
• Soyo Takahashi, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan

Published In

Frontiers in Water

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-23-2026

Abstract

The papers in this Research Topic (RT) extend insights on the roles of social relations, institutional arrangements, Indigenous ways of knowing, local knowledge, and decisionmaking participation in shaping water governance and practice. Despite efforts to predict flows and possible hazards, we continue to observe “unintended consequences” when humans interact with waterscapes. What we often learn, we argue, is that what appears “unintended” often reflects a deliberate architecture of exclusion; one that becomes legible only when social power relations are placed at the center of analysis alongside hydrological variables. Doing so may illuminate where injustice complicates intentions and what difference participatory and just governance makes.

Rights

Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Locate the Document

10.3389/frwa.2026.1907010

DOI

10.3389/frwa.2026.1907010

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/45014

Citation Details

Haeffner, M., Sakamoto, M., Mukherjee, J., Nguyen, H. Q., & Takahashi, S. (2026). Editorial: Participatory and just governance: empowering local and Indigenous communities. Frontiers in Water, 8.