Title Beyond Physical Reconstruction: Soft Power, Water and Community Resilience in Post-Conflict Settings
Author(s) Muriel Bubbio
Affiliation Foundation for Post-Conflict Development (FPCD) / FPCD Monaco
Country Monaco / United States
Contribution type discussion contribution
Thematic area • War and Soil Systems• War and Freshwater Systems• War and Land-Use Systems• War and Health
Conference framework connection • Analytical Track AT-01 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-02 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-03 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-04 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-05 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-06 — provisional title to be defined• Analytical Track AT-07 — provisional title to be defined
Abstract Post-conflict recovery cannot be approached solely through the assessment and repair of physical and environmental damage. The long-term recovery of countries and communities emerging from conflict also depends on their capacity to rebuild trust, strengthen institutions, restore essential services and reconnect communities with sustainable development pathways.
This contribution presents the perspective of the Foundation for Post-Conflict Development (FPCD) on the role that water, public health, community resilience and international cooperation can play in this process.
For FPCD, freshwater systems are not only environmental assets or essential components of physical infrastructure. In post-conflict settings, access to safe water and sanitation is also a fundamental public health issue, directly linked to hygiene, maternal and child health, sanitation and the effective functioning of healthcare facilities.
FPCD’s experience in Timor-Leste, where we have supported the construction and development of maternity facilities, has reinforced our understanding of reliable access to water and sanitation as an essential component of healthcare infrastructure and community resilience. In this context, water is inseparable from health, dignity and the long-term sustainability of post-conflict recovery.
Access to water and the governance of shared water resources can therefore provide practical entry points for rebuilding trust, strengthening social cohesion, improving health outcomes and supporting cooperation between institutions and communities. At the same time, experience from one post-conflict setting cannot be transferred mechanically to another. Approaches must be adapted to local environmental, institutional, social and cultural conditions.
This perspective forms part of FPCD’s five-year strategic plan, The Soft Power Axis: A Cultural Diplomacy Pact for the Future 2026–2030, which explores the use of cultural diplomacy, preventive diplomacy and international cooperation as complementary tools for sustainable post-conflict recovery.
Drawing on FPCD’s recent work around oceans, water, climate resilience, health and peacebuilding, including initiatives developed in the context of the United Nations Ocean Conference, Climate Week NYC and the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, the presentation will explore how scientific and technical knowledge can be connected with civil society, institutions and communities.
Soft power and cultural diplomacy are considered here not as alternatives to technical reconstruction, but as complementary means of creating spaces for dialogue, cooperation and renewed trust.
The central argument is that effective reconstruction requires not only repairing damaged systems, but also creating the conditions for health, dignity, trust, cooperation, resilience and lasting peace dividends. Freshwater recovery, public health, institutional capacity and community participation should therefore be understood as interconnected dimensions of sustainable post-conflict recovery.
Key points • Environmental recovery, public health and human recovery should be considered together in post-conflict reconstruction.
• Access to safe water and sanitation is essential to healthcare delivery, particularly maternal and child health.
• Damage to water systems and failures in access to essential services can prolong the human consequences of conflict and undermine trust in recovery institutions.
• Water can become a practical entry point for trust-building, cooperation and community resilience.
• FPCD’s experience with maternity facilities in Timor-Leste illustrates the connection between water, health infrastructure and sustainable recovery.
• Approaches developed in one post-conflict setting must be adapted to the environmental, institutional and cultural conditions of another.
• Civil society can help bridge scientific knowledge, institutions and the needs of communities in post-conflict settings.
• Soft power and cultural diplomacy can complement technical reconstruction by creating spaces for dialogue, cooperation and renewed trust.
Keywords Post-conflict recovery; freshwater systems; water for peace; public health; maternal health; community resilience; soft power; cultural diplomacy; peacebuilding; international cooperation; civil society
Main discussion question How can scientific knowledge about freshwater systems be combined with public health, community resilience, civil society engagement and cultural diplomacy to support sustainable recovery and rebuild trust in post-conflict settings?
OJS publication link https://pollution-diseases-ojs.org/index.php/pd/article/view/81
Note. Analytical TracksIn addition to the main thematic areas, the conference programme will include several cross-cutting analytical tracks. These tracks will be defined during the preparation of the programme, based on the submitted abstracts and the emerging links between presentations.At the preliminary stage, abstracts may be assigned to provisional analytical tracks marked as AT-01 to AT-07. Final track titles will be announced after the Scientific Committee has reviewed the submitted materials.