A Story of Change
Towards an inclusive water management model in Argentina's Puna

As lithium exploration expands across the Puna, concerns over freshwater are growing in this fragile landscape. In the Salar, wetlands and shallow lakes sustain local ecosystems and the daily lives of communities such as Santa Rosa de los Pastos Grandes.   

In Pastos Grandes, fragmented institutional mandates and the absence of major social conflict created a valuable opportunity to advance more inclusive, participatory water decision-making and generate lessons for similar processes in other territories. 

As Lithium is central to the global energy transition, creating economic opportunities while raising important questions about how water is managed, protected, and shared.

Building a shared approach to inclusive water management

The initiative aims to strengthen inclusive water governance early in the mining cycle in the Salar de los Pastos Grandes, where no watershed-scale tool existed to support shared understanding of water availability and ecosystem dynamics. Rather than starting from predefined solutions, the process is building the technical, institutional and territorial relational capacities for meaningful and long-term engagement.  

The proposed solution follows a gradual process structured around four intermediate goals, which also represent progressive stages of implementation. The first, completed in 2025, focused on creating better conditions for engagement and shared understanding to support the inclusive construction of the Water Model.  

The second, currently underway in 2026, focuses on strengthening stakeholder capacities through the co-construction and refinement of the Water Model. The following stages will advance towards a participatory water management plan for Pastos Grandes and, by 2027, the consolidation of a future inter-provincial Waterwise Protocol for lithium-producing salars. The results and progress presented below relate mainly to the first completed stage and the second stage now in progress. 

Table of Contents

Community dialogue in Salar de Pastos Grandes, 2025. Unlike other parts of Salta Province, Pastos Grandes face growing pressure from lithium development without major social conflict, creating a rare opportunity to pilot more inclusive and participatory water governance in a context of fragmented institutional decision making. (Photo: MARS)

Progress and Results

Improved conditions to advance the inclusive Water Model construction (2024-2025)

Progress during the first phase has been subtle but meaningful. As the co-development of an inclusive water management model advances in Pastos Grandes, early shifts are beginning to emerge toward a more inclusive and legitimate process, built around a common reference point and enabling more consistent engagement among actors whose interests do not always align. 

This shift is reflected in the participation of Lithium Argentina, the Secretariat of Mining and Energy of Salta Province, the Secretariat of Water Resources of Salta Province, and the governing committee of Santa Rosa de los Pastos Grandes, all of whom signed agreements to engage in the model co-construction process. 

Transparency has increasingly become a shared demand. This is evidenced by Lithium Argentina’s sharing of roughly two years of hydroclimatic data with SEI Latin America, and by subsequent discussions with the company’s technical team on how that data should be used in the watershed model. The process has also made it clear that the model’s scope, assumptions, and uncertainty must be communicated clearly to all parties. 

These early shifts are already translating into tangible effects across different stakeholder groups. In the private sector, Lithium Argentina has moved beyond engagement limited to technical experts and is now involving legal and public relations functions integrating a more holistic view within the enterprise.  

Participation was driven less by trust than by necessity: a shared recognition that, without collaboration, no legitimate watershed-scale understanding of water resources could be achieved.

On the public side, the Secretariat of Mining and Energy and the Secretariat of Water Resources have committed to participate on the basis that the model can support technical review, staff training, and a future validation process. The Environment Secretariat is also identified in the initial context as a relevant authority responsible for biodiversity and critical ecosystems, underscoring the need for integrated decision-making.

Community participation is also gaining a clearer role. The agreement with the governing committee of Santa Rosa de los Pastos Grandes includes support for organizing workshops and for identifying community members with specific knowledge of water resources, aquatic ecosystems, and their relationship to local livelihoods.

In parallel, the process is being technically strengthened through an expert council led by the National University of La Plata, with anticipated contributions from the National University of Salta to address gaps in endorheic watershed modelling, wetland ecology and community livelihoods in the Argentine Puna.

Strengthening stakeholder capacities through the Water Model: When dialogue needs data, and data needs trust (2026)

During the second phase of the project in 2026, the Impact Project has moved from establishing enabling conditions for collaboration toward consolidating the co-construction of the water management model in Pastos Grandes. The process has focused on strengthening stakeholder capacities, supporting more active participation, and helping different actors representatives engage with the variables, data, and knowledge needed to inform shared water management decisions. 

This work is being reinforced by the Expert Council, which continues to strengthen the credibility and technical basis of the process. By bringing expertise in hydrological and hydrogeological modelling, aquatic ecosystems, water resources, and local livelihood systems, the Council is helping to connect mining company and government data with community knowledge. 

Through this role, the Expert Council is supporting the model’s development as both a technical tool and a shared reference point for dialogue. These efforts are now leading to the November 2026 workshop, where mining company representatives, provincial authorities, and community representatives will review key uncertainties, performance metrics, and final adjustments to support long-term decision-making, monitoring, and adaptive management. 

At the same time, the project is beginning to connect the local process in Pastos Grandes with broader institutional learning on water-wise lithium development in Argentina. Since May 2026, collaboration with the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development has advanced as a basis for establishing an inter-provincial protocol. This work will assess regulatory frameworks for water management and aquatic ecosystem protection in Catamarca, Salta, and Jujuy, three central provinces for lithium production in Argentina. 

Building on this, the 2026 SWPA–UNDP collaboration is being positioned to strengthen engagement with public and private decision-makers around the protocol for informed, multi-stakeholder water management negotiations in lithium-producing salars. 

“It will be something of our own, not data provided by companies, but data generated by the community itself.” 

Contact MARS for more information

Henrik Hallgren Programme Director
Andres Hernandez Regional Program Manager

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This executive summary presents the findings from the study “Workplace Cooperation: Finding Practical Solutions in the Colombian Context,” conducted by the Fundación Ideas para la Paz (FIP). The study evaluates the added value of the Swedish Workplace Programme (SWP) dialogue and cooperation model within the Colombian labor market.

Throughout 2022, FIP dedicated efforts to thoroughly understand the SWP model, including its concept, foundations, implementation process, and contributions to the labor market. In 2023, FIP documented the experiences of three companies—SKF Latin Trade, Securitas, and Epiroc—that implemented the SWP model in practice. The study also included face-to-face workshops to gather feedback from various stakeholders including civil society, businesses, government, academia, and international cooperation. The findings suggest that the SWP model has the potential to strengthen labor relations, contribute to decent work, and resolve workplace conflicts in Colombia.

The case studies highlight the importance of collaboration between employers and workers to promote decent work and sustainable development in Colombia. They demonstrate that social dialogue facilitates worker participation in labor decision-making, enhances their representativeness, and promotes cooperation between employers and employees, thus improving labor relations and contributing to the well-being of both employees and companies.

The SWP model is particularly noted for improving workplace relationships and commitment to jointly finding solutions to challenges faced by workers and the company. It empowers workers, enhances leadership, and helps integrate business policies into daily practices, reducing the initial disconnect between management objectives and the day-to-day realities of workers. The study also highlights the model’s capacity to manage conflicts constructively, transforming the perception of conflict as an opportunity for improvement. Structured dialogues deepen understanding of the underlying causes of conflicts, fostering empathy and facilitating effective resolution. This promotes a culture of collaboration and a democratic approach to decision-making, building trust.

Additionally, the model is recognized for enabling workers to make decisions, identify challenges, and propose solutions that impact their well-being, and bridging gender gaps in the workplace. Its inclusive approach adapts to the unique needs and characteristics of each company, promoting a stronger and more diverse organizational culture. It also drives good work performance and productivity by involving workers in problem identification and resolution, as well as in implementing improvements and efficiently identifying ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) risks for companies.

The document identifies the SWP model’s added value in empowering direct interaction among labor stakeholders in Colombia, overcoming historical or cultural reservations, and contributing to the development of stronger labor relations and improved workplace environments in the country.

Challenges and opportunities of the model are also discussed. The study points out the importance of addressing value chain risks, particularly in a global context where corporate clients demand decent work processes and due diligence. It emphasizes the need to integrate SMEs into this process and use anchor companies as drivers of social dialogue throughout the value chain. The role of the state in social dialogue and the importance of highlighting the benefits of the model for adoption across various business sectors are discussed.

The opportunities of the model include raising awareness of human rights in the workplace in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGP), to strengthen due diligence, manage risks, promote long-term sustainability, and improve organizational culture. The document also underscores the importance of involving workers in change processes, leveraging their insights for continuous improvement of processes, and fostering innovation opportunities. Lastly, it suggests replicating the model in value chains to address work environment risks and gender biases, involving suppliers and contractors, and integrating the model into corporate policies to strengthen existing programs and transform organizational culture towards resource efficiency and effective participation of employers and workers.