The Landscape of Water PPPs

Keywords: Water, Public Private Partnerships, Development
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 57

Abstract

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) popped up in the water sector with the promise of providing better water services and infrastructure at a lower cost. Private involvement in providing public services and infrastructure dates back to the Roman empire, but experienced a renaissance in the 1970s when the term PPP was coined and popularized. Despite substantial criticism of these partnerships in the years since and a failure to achieve their proposed transformations, water PPPs continue to receive funding, support, and participation from a diverse set of actors around the globe. By examining the framing around water PPPs by actor type, this research explores the motivation of different actors for participation in PPPs, how PPP projects are selected and partnerships created, and what PPPs contribute to international development and water governance. Actors investigated include NGOs, intergovernmental development organizations, national governments, global knowledge networks, and private sector actors. Methods utilized include document analysis of websites, reports, articles, flyers, and promotional materials, as well as key informant interviews with various actors directly involved in water sector PPPs. We conclude by examining the similarities and differences in framings and enactment of water PPPs across actors and over time. Understanding how the framings around PPPs has evolved over time and been adopted and adapted by different actors provides insights into how PPPs fit into and impact larger governance and development practices around water.