The WHO estimates that 1.6 million deaths in 2016 were attributable to inadequate water and sanitation. Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6.1, "universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all" is a particular challenge in remote rural regions of the world.
In the project titled REACH - Establishing a Drinking Water Security Strategy in Karnali State, Nepal, the Sandec Division of Eawag – Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology – and Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation are developing participatory interventions to achieve sustainable use of safe drinking water in rural communities served by gravity-fed piped systems.
As part of this project, the Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine Group of the University of Bern is investigating the relevance of the concept of psychological ownership to the use and handling of safe drinking water sources and drinking water testing and treatment measures.
Organizational psychology has shown that psychological ownership, the sense that an object belongs to me or to us, is accompanied by an increased assumption of responsibility for and willingness to use and maintain that object. In this project, we investigate psychological ownership for water systems and the drinking water filter. We address four research questions:
- Is water users’ and operators’ psychological ownership for the water system and the water filter related to knowledge, investment of time, ideas, energy, and experienced control over these objects (cf. routes of psychological ownership, Pierce, Kostova, & Dirks, 2001)?
- Does participatory intervention in the REACH project and the degree of participation increase their sense of psychological ownership?
- Is stronger psychological ownership related to more consistent use of safe drinking water, more sustainable handling of water-related infrastructure, and better water quality?
- Can the intervention effect be explained by increased psychological ownership?
Location: Achham, Kalikot, Jajarkot, Dailekh & Surkhet District- Karnali State, Nepal
Funding: Eawag, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, REACH: Improving Water Security for the Poor
Research team: Dr Sara Marks (Project Management, Eawag), Ariane Schertenleib (Eawag), Madhan Bhatta (Helvetas), Rubika Shreshta (Helvetas), Bal Mukunda Kunwar (Helvetas), Benjamin Ambühl (University of Bern), Vica Tomberge (University of Bern), and Prof. Dr Jennifer Inauen (University of Bern)
