Hydro-Ethnographic Applied Research (Hear)
An Approach to Support the Stewardship of Culturally Important Water Resources
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3775315 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anthony J Lewis (0009-0007-3998-9409), Andrew J Lewis (0000-0002-2519-7976, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-9 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-08 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Annals of the American Association of Geographers (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2469-4452 • E-ISSN: 2469-4460 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/24694452.2025.2551040 |
| OpenAlex | W4414060799 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
Water’s cultural significance shapes norms, practices, and beliefs, influencing how communities manage, use, and sustain it through traditional knowledge, customs, and stewardship. Yet in academia, integrating fields such as cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, and geography into hydrologic research remains a challenge. Innovative approaches are needed to foster meaningful researcher–community engagement and align research with the cultural values of water. This article introduces the term hydro-cultural values and presents the hydro-ethnographic applied research (HEAR) approach, developed from two community hydrology projects on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. HEAR synthesizes community-based participatory research (CBPR) and ethnography, employing semiethnographic methods to embed Indigenous hydrocultural values into applied hydrologic research, supporting the stewardship of culturally significant water resources. By shifting from ethnography that merely documents culture to an approach that applies ethnographic data to guide hydrologic research, HEAR promotes equitable applied research outcomes and advances a more inclusive model for researcher–community relationships. This approach offers a pathway for hydrologic research to align with the expressed interests of Indigenous communities, ensuring that research not only respects but also integrates the cultural significance of water
Applied research · Qualitative research · Sustainability · Water resources · Water scarcity · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · Water Governance and Infrastructure
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Place in Research
Articulating Indigenous Law as “Environmental Protection”? The Piikani Nation and the Oldman River Dam Environmental Assessment Review Process
Implementing Indigenous and Western Knowledge Systems in Water Research and Management (Part 1)
Participation, Decentralization, and Civil Society
Amplifying Indigenous community participation in place-based research through boundary work
Indigenous geographies III
Moving From Research On, to Research With and for Indigenous Communities
Participatory and community‐based research, Indigenous geographies, and the spaces of friendship
Critical Ethnography
Can You Hear us Now? Voices from the Margin
Co-becoming Bawaka
Cultural politics and the hydrosocial cycle
Modifying Photovoice for community-based participatory Indigenous research
Decolonizing Methodologies
Talk-Story
Traditional storytelling
Who Knows? On the Importance of Identifying "Experts" When Researching Local Ecological Knowledge
| Highly cited | No |
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