Agro-urban Ecosystem Health Assessment in Kathmandu, Nepal: Epidemiology, Systems, Narratives

This case study illustrates links between problem structuring, multiple epistemologies across nested scales, assessment, and remediation. Cystic echinococcosis is a parasitic disease of people associated with a gastrointestinal tapeworm of dogs. Since it usually cycles between canids and other vertebrates, the parasite is linked to food safety through slaughtering techniques, which in turn are related to changes in the characteristics of the agro-urban ecosystem. These in turn cannot be dealt with without addressing the socioeconomic and cultural aspects of the system, that is, the eco-social narratives which people (including scientists) use to structure their daily lives. A 10-year series of research projects in Nepal demonstrated that post-World War II epidemiological techniques, designed for studying individuals in Western industrialized countries, could identify some risk factors but had a mixed record at achieving solutions which required collective action. Effective solutions were arrived at only after local stakeholders and governance structures were engaged in a process of defining the structure of the problem. Assessment (placing values on scientific measurements) and remediation (acting on those values) require both citizen engagement and an understanding of complex systems. These are synthesized through the creation of culturally acceptable narratives.