Bridging waters: science, communication, and social engagement to address hydroclimatic risks

Abstract Hydroclimatic risks in semi-arid Patagonia are intensifying under climate change, exposing the limitations of top-down approaches and underscoring the need for integrative and context-sensitive frameworks. This article identifies and analyzes hydroclimatic risks in the Chubut River Basin, Patagonia, Argentina, through an interdisciplinary and participatory design that integrates scientific information with local knowledge, territorial histories, and gender and diversity perspectives. Methodologically, the study is organized into four steps—integration, synthesis, conceptualization, and products—guided by two cross-cutting axes: gender and diversity, and environmental communication. The integration step developed five lines of evidence: hydroclimatic context, socio-political context, hydroclimatic risk with gender and diversity perspective, archeological and historical territorial perspectives, and present and future territorial perspectives. These lines combine original analyses, previous research, and literature review with local perspectives gathered through interviews, participatory workshops, and engagement processes with governmental, community, and educational actors. Workshops, inspired by principles of Latin American popular education and popular feminism, created horizontal spaces for dialogue, knowledge co-production, and the identification of key themes. Reflexive debriefings, triangulation, and participant validation reinforced the credibility and transferability of results. The synthesis step integrated these diverse perspectives into a set of core ideas grounded in situated socio-environmental knowledge. These core ideas informed the conceptualization stage, where narratives and key messages were developed using a qualitative interpretive approach aligned with mixed-methods perspectives. The final stage translated these narratives into communication and educational products, including policy briefs, infographics, journalistic materials, videos, and a pedagogical toolbox, all supported by environmental communication principles. The study demonstrates how climatic variability, territorial processes, governance arrangements, and gender inequalities shape water quality and availability. Throughout all stages, the transversal incorporation of gender and diversity perspectives and environmental communication strengthened the co-production of context-sensitive insights, fostered trust, expanded access to climate information, and contributed to more inclusive and participatory water governance.