**Abstract**

In the autumn of 2017, two professors and 13 undergraduate students from Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pennsylvania, US) engaged in 3 weeks of field research in Nepal. The students were assigned to one of four teams. Each was assisted by a pair of graduate students affiliated with Tribhuvan University (Kathmandu, Nepal). Each team conducted numerous semi-structured interviews in one of four wards of the Panchkahl Municipality of Kavrepalanchok District. When they returned to the US, each student team generated a 50-page report that summarized their findings. To frame the findings of those reports, the authors of this chapter constructed a basic yet original systems model. Their analysis suggests: (1) the importance of collaboration among system participants as the key to developing the capabilities needed to adapt to fresh water shortages and enhance prospects for human security and (2) the need for further system transformation to further promote adaptation.

**Keywords:** climate change, fresh water, human security, collaboration, subcommunities, adaptation, systems analysis
