This is a case study on how to raise awareness and build community ownership among diverse stakeholders for a project to save Nepal’s Bagmati River.
The Nepalese people consider the Bagmati River sacred, and yet it is dying.
The Government of Nepal is implementing a project to improve water resources management at the river basin with financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project outputs include infrastructure development for improved riverbank environment, capacity and systems building for better river basin management and flood forecasting, and stakeholder engagement through effective communication.
The success of the project hinges on behavioral changes of key stakeholders and marshaling and uniting their efforts to clean the heavily polluted river. Their commitment to river management responsibilities should match their spiritual ownership of the Bagmati.
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The Bagmati is a holy river for both Hindus and Buddhists. Devotees bathe on the banks near the Pashupatinath Temple as it flows through Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. Cremation ceremonies also take place at the temple.
The iconic river is also a part of the daily life for those living near its banks. Water from the river is used to wash clothes and household utensils. The Bagmati also serves as an informal gathering place and a space for rest and meditation.
Most Nepalese have a deep religious and cultural connection to the river that even government ministers make impassioned speeches recalling how they, as children, also bathed in the Bagmati.
The Bagmati is dying. Without adequate wastewater treatment, sewage from the Kathmandu Valley inevitably ends up in the river. Trucks dump garbage on its banks. The river has become a repository of human waste. Yet during the dry season, 80% of the river flow is diverted for drinking water.
A Supreme Court case holding the government accountable for the river’s cleanup has raised the stakes for achieving results. However, the river needs help not only from government, but also from its residents. Local communities were “guerilla guarding,” and cleaning small sections of the river. Yet, the extent of the pollution exceeded initiatives to clean up the Bagmati. The only way to save the river was for various stakeholders to work together.
The complex mix of stakeholders with their diverse interests, behaviors, and religious sensitivities required a new approach. The project needed a clear, comprehensive communication strategy to drive stakeholders toward a common vision for the river basin.
Development communication is critical in shifting mindsets and changing behaviors, particularly toward channeling the stakeholders’ spiritual connection to the Bagmati to cleaning and saving the river. Three key messages emerged from consultations with stakeholders:
The short-term stakeholder communication strategy focused on activities that inform concerned stakeholders about the objectives, components, and rationale of the project, and actively engaged them in project preparation.
This complex undertaking involved analyzing the many types of actors and organizations with a stake in the river: government, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), riverside communities, and the private sector. It studied their interests, mandates, perception of the problem, and resources.
The mapping identified 458 institutions involved in the Bagmati river welfare and solid waste management.
Various government agencies with overlapping roles and responsibilities manage the river’s resources. These are the High-Powered Committee for Integrated Development of the Bagmati Civilization, the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat, the Ministry of Urban Development, the Ministry of Local Development, and the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority. The Water and Energy Commission Secretariat, an apex body, takes an institutional perspective and forms river basin organizations (RBOs). The High-Powered Committee focuses on river administration (including cleanup campaigns), and management and maintenance of the only active wastewater treatment plant in the valley.
Another key stakeholder is the local government, which consists of village development committees, municipalities, and wards (the smallest administrative unit). These serve as direct routes to engage communities, enabling them to adopt and manage stretches of the river.
The mapping identified 18 wards from Sundarijal to Sinamangal in the upper stretch of the Bagmati. The stakeholder analysis showed that changing the behavior of communities in the 18 wards closest to the river has the highest impact on the success of the project. They also stood to gain the most from a successful cleanup campaign.
Eight categories of civil society institutions with a stake in the Bagmati were identified: NGOs, community-based organizations, guthi (a traditional social organization, some of which maintain cultural monuments along the Bagmati), cooperatives, private institutions, schools, batika (small patches of gardens or parks maintained by community groups), and religious institutions. These organizations work on environment, water, sanitation, irrigation and land, and represent the youth, women, and specialized sectors. They form a bridge between project staff and the community.
The private sector, also a stakeholder, includes carpet factories, brick factories, and water tankers, some of which extract large amounts of water while polluting the river. Analysis showed that other stakeholders see the private sector as a source of financial support for the cleanup campaign.
In addition to community discussions and one-on-one meetings with concerned groups, project staff designed two structured workshops to present a draft communication strategy and participation plan to stakeholders.
The first workshop in August 2012 brought together high-level representatives from government, institutes, and universities to discuss the management of the Bagmati River Basin and, more importantly, how they could work together on the project. Speakers—potential champions for the project—included water resource engineers, retired government experts, legal and institutional specialists, and professionals in integrated water resource management.
The second workshop took place in October 2012, gathering representatives from the communities, farmer groups, women’s groups, and NGOs. Participants discussed barriers to communication, participation, ownership, and acceptance of the project, as well as actions to overcome these—all of which required a strategic approach to communication. NGOs discussed their role in raising awareness and training communities to manage stretches of the river.
Representatives from government and civil society visited other countries to study how they are reviving polluted river systems, including the Pasig River in the Philippines. They studied media and communication campaigns and observed how support was obtained from government leaders.
The Pasig River in the Philippines was being rehabilitated by the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and the ABS-CBN Foundation, the social arm of one of the country’s broadcasting networks. There are also multi-stakeholders in the project that were involved in clearing the river’s tributaries, the “river warriors” or community volunteers program, and greening the waterways. Communication activities conducted by ABS-CBN Foundation included the 1-minute Pasig River Report series, which was broadcast five times a day, and the annual Pasig River Run, which was held from 2009-2013¬ to mobilize public and political support.
The project team followed a recognized behavior change communication process that helped stakeholders become aware of specific issues that concern them and then move them toward positive behavior change. Finally, they are mobilized to act and sustain their roles.
The communication strategy had a two-pronged objective: share timely and comprehensive project information with communities, government, and the public; and catalyze behavior changes among key stakeholders to respond to issues affecting the Bagmati.
The strategy identified four key audiences with distinct interests, stakes, and behaviors. These are: communities along the river, river basin organizations, concerned government agencies, and local government. It prioritized stakeholder dialogue to build consensus and continue project support. Messages and methods were tailored to encourage changes in the behavior of specific stakeholders, particularly in moving away from polluting the river and toward conservation and protection, while preparing for recurring river hazards like flooding.
The strategy for the government used a distinct set of approaches to promote and enforce environmentally sound policies and river laws and regulations. Through NGOs, CSOs, and the private sector, the project lobbied for river policies, which included waste and wastewater management. The government planned to help develop a curriculum on river conservation for children.
The communication strategy also specified the need for regular coordination among project stakeholders to improve governance and project management. Since institutional reforms coincided with environmental improvements and community behavior changes, communication was crucial in dismantling silo approaches to water resources management. An integrated water resource management river basin approach provided the necessary institutional framework and mechanisms. The project established a river basin organization to coordinate and monitor river basin management and mainstream community participation.
The strategy also called for developing an NGO platform with a shared vision for the Bagmati to sustain the participation of key stakeholders. The Bagmati Beautification Concern Platform (known locally as Bagmati Sundarata Sarokar Manch) was formed in 2016. It is made up of 458 social institutions identified during the stakeholder mapping. It set up and managed user communities, and raised their awareness. Some parts of the river were handed over to user communities, which are active in cleanup and beautification, such as developing more greenbelts and ensuring that people benefit from riverfront developments.
The Bagmati Beautification Concern Platform served as a bridge between communities and the project. It helped the local government (municipalities and wards) to design and conduct communication activities, enhance capacity, and raise funds for solid waste management. It trained people from the 18 wards in the project area to manage communication campaigns.
Careful interpersonal communication helped to effectively reach diverse stakeholders and deal with cultural and religious sensitivities, especially since people wanted to ensure that the design and construction of the civil works along the riverbanks were in keeping with their faith. Sensitive communication and negotiation proved necessary, for example, to determine the rise and tread length for the ghats, the series of steps leading down to the river used for bathing and cremation ceremonies. The project will use local stonemasons and artisans to rebuild these ghats.
The project team began design consultations in mid-2015 for civil works along the riverbanks. Project engineers consulted community members, groups, and local government officials, and shared detailed designs. Based on stakeholder recommendations, engineers incorporated at least 27 new features into the designs. The Bagmati Beautification Concern Platform also worked with the government and the project contractor to conduct joint walks along the banks to jointly decide the location of stairs, ramps, toilets, mourning house, and gates.
Consultations revealed potential problems, such as unverified land claims and upstream dam construction. Again, these required sensitive and careful interpersonal communication to mitigate risks of project delays, disruption, or controversy.
The communication strategy closely hewed to the project’s gender equity and social inclusion component. There are gender focal persons representing the 18 wards (through which the river flows) and a stretch in upper Bagmati. The project-trained gender focal points mobilize women to improve the river environment and increase their sense of responsibility to protect river resources. Feedback from women’s groups urged project engineers to add lighting to the design of the proposed cycling track and walking path along the river.
Various communication paraphernalia (i.e., brochures, a documentary, jingle) were produced and widely disseminated to close to 5,000 people. Awareness activities were conducted in 24 schools in the project area.
This case study was based on inputs from the following resource persons:
Asian Development Bank (ADB). Nepal: Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project.
ADB. 2013. Reports and Recommendations of the President: Proposed Loan and Grant, and Administration of the Technical Assistance Grant for Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project. Mandaluyong.
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Karen Lane, a former journalist, has been living and working in Asia for over 20 years. She has been at the Asian Development Bank since 2008 where she has managed communications activities for many projects, knowledge products, and events around the region.
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Pinky Serafica has been a practitioner of development communication and behavior change in international development projects for the last 2 decades. She specializes in managing strategic communication processes for selected projects across ADB member countries. A former multi-media journalist, she has produced knowledge products on various themes for different sectors.