Community-based Water Management for Sustainable and Collective Action in Rural Costa Rica

Abstract: The aim of this study was to deepen the understanding of how community-based water management approaches facilitate sustainable and collective action (SCA) in the context of increasing water insecurity in Costa Rica. Applying a qualitative approach, based on fieldwork in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, including semi-structured interviews and a digital community survey, the study uncovers facilitating factors towards SCA. Addressing revealed shortcomings of Common Pool Resource Theory, an extended framework, based on Ostrom’s (1990) design principles for robust community-based organisations (CBOs) was applied, furthering this approach through the inclusion of sustainability dimensions, inner capabilities and an inclusion of the community’s perception. The findings highlighted the importance of inner capabilities, communication, collaboration, gender diversity, and community support. The case study of ASADAS in Hojancha revealed unique and contextualized insights, and offered concrete policy advice for the context of Costa Rica. Furthermore, the Theory of Common-Pool Resources is advanced through the development of an extended framework, which addresses previous shortcomings in the theory.