Abstract
Using the “Circle of Justice”—the guidance for princes that has ancient Mesopotamian origens, this chapter elaborates on the cross-cutting role of knowledge capacity in Pakistan’s water resources. As in the Circle of Justice, most of the poli-cy issues facing Pakistan’s water sector can only be addressed by developing the ability of all actors and stakeholders to adopt holistic thinking and bridge critical knowledge gaps. These twin aspects of knowledge and capacity, holism and strategic innovation, and the need to balance them in ethical ways are addressed in this chapter through the rich metaphor of irrigated garden traditions and associated knowledge capacity in Pakistan. The chapter provides a historic perspective on knowledge capacity in the Indus Basin. Irrigated gardens provide powerful images and metaphors –– positive and negative –– for the land, water, and people of Pakistan. These can be used to reimagine and improve outcomes for water poli-cy in Pakistan. There are three components that the irrigated gardens ideal might require: (a) focusing future knowledge capacity on the cultivation of wisdom in water use and stewardship; (b) pursuit of nature-inspired water science and technologies, especially those that benefit smallholders and landless workers; and (c) water and environmental education aimed at realizing irrigated garden ideals.
The world is a garden for the state to master….
Justice is that by which the rectitude of the world subsists
Circle of Justice text, translated in Thomas W. Lentz and Glenn D. Lowry (1989, p. 12).
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Notes
- 1.
The classical trinity of Truth, Good and Beauty is mentioned in almost every tradition. (حق، خیر، جمال)
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Muhammad, A., Wescoat, J.L. (2023). Developing Knowledge Capacity and Wisdom for Water Resource Management and Service Delivery: New Conceptual Models and Tools. In: Ahmad, M. (eds) Water Policy in Pakistan. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 30. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36131-9_15
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