Participation for effective environmental governance? Evidence from Water Framework Directive implementation in Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom

Abstract:In 2014, a radical shift took place in Danish water planning. Following years of a top-down water planning approach, 23 regional water councils were established to co-create and provide input to Danish authorities on the development of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP). The water councils advised local authorities on the application of measures to improve the physical conditions in Danish streams within a given economic frame. The paper shows the difference the use of water councils (public participation) made by comparing the final water council proposal included in the 2015 RBMP to the RBMPs proposed by the central government (Nature Agency) in 2014. The study concludes that the measures proposed by the water councils will generally deliver better results than the proposed Nature Agency plans, which do not include the same level of participation. Specifically, the water councils with stakeholder involvement proposed a much longer network of streams (3800 km), yielding a better ecological outcome than the shorter stream network (1615 km) proposed by the Nature Agency for the same budget. Having a structured and fixed institutional frame around public participation (top-down meeting bottom-up) can produce cost-effective results, but the results show that cost-effectiveness was not the only deciding factor, and that local circumstances like the practicalities of implementing the measures were also considered when developing the Programmes of Measures. The findings suggest that the use of water councils in water planning has significant advantages, including the fact that the knowledge of local conditions helps to identify efficient solutions at lower costs, which can be useful for administrators, policy-makers, and other stakeholders implementing the Water Framework Directive in years to come.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Public Participation and The Water Framework Directivementioning

confidence: 99%

Stakeholder Engagement and Knowledge Co-Creation in Water Planning: Can Public Participation Increase Cost-Effectiveness?

Graversgaard

Jacobsen

Kjeldsen

et al. 2017

“…In recognition of the multiple and conflicting interests associated with water governance, EU's Water Framework Directive (WFD) recognized that an ideal system state was negotiable and reflective of a post-normal scientific tradition. Moreover, the WFD can be perceived as expression of the (instrumentalist) 'participatory turn' within water governance, seeking to render governance actions more legitimate and implementable [36]. Thus, the WFD stipulates that the chemical and ecological status of water shall be defined by context-specific and stakeholder defined targets, thereby calling for the enactment of participatory approaches in water governance, notably in the development and enactment of river basin management plans (RBMP) [36].…”

Section: Case 1: Gender and The Eu Water Framework Directivementioning

confidence: 99%

Water Security in Times of Climate Change and Intractability: Reconciling Conflict by Transforming Security Concerns into Equity Concerns

Powell

Larsen

Bruin

et al. 2017

This paper considers how to achieve equitable water governance and the flow-on effects it has in terms of supporting sustainable development, drawing on case studies from the international climate change adaptation and governance project (CADWAGO). Water governance, like many other global issues, is becoming increasingly intractable (wicked) with climate change and is, by the international community, being linked to instances of threats to human security, the war in the Sudanese Darfur and more recently the acts of terrorism perpetuated by ISIS. In this paper, we ask the question: how can situations characterized by water controversy (exacerbated by the uncertainties posed by climate change) be reconciled? The main argument is based on a critique of the way the water security discourse appropriates expert (normal) claims about human-biophysical relationships. When water challenges become increasingly securitized by the climate change discourse it becomes permissible to enact processes that legitimately transgress normative positions through post-normal actions. In contrast, the water equity discourse offers an alternative reading of wicked and post-normal water governance situations. We contend that by infusing norm critical considerations into the process of securitization, new sub-national constellations of agents will be empowered to enact changes; thereby bypassing vicious cycles of power brokering that characterize contemporary processes intended to address controversies.

“…Stakeholder participation in water management planning is thought to (i) contribute to acceptability, sustainability and resilience in water projects and policies; (ii) strengthen capacity building and empowerment; (iii) guarantee equity and democracy in decision making; (iv) provide solutions for conflict situations; and (v) contribute to economic efficiency [18][19][20]. The importance of involving stakeholders in decision-making is increasingly acknowledged at the policy level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Participatory Approach for Adapting River Basins to Climate Change

Verkerk

Sánchez

Libbrecht

et al. 2017

Climate change is expected to reduce water availability in the Mediterranean region and water management needs to adapt to future conditions. The aims of this study were (1) to develop a participatory approach for identifying and evaluating management options for river basin climate adaptation and (2) to apply and evaluate the approach in four case-study river basins across the Mediterranean. As part of the approach, a diverse group of stakeholders joined a series of workshops and consultations in four river basins located in Cyprus, Slovenia, Spain and Tunisia. In each river basin, stakeholders expressed their views on challenges in their river basins, as well as options to tackle these challenges. We used the information on challenges, as well as the factors contributing to these challenges to develop a fuzzy cognitive map for each basin. These maps were converted into mathematical models and were used to assess the impact of a total of 102 suggested management options for the four river basins. We linked the options and their estimated impacts with a multi-criteria analysis to identify the most preferred options. The approach was positively evaluated by the participating stakeholders and allowed the link of stakeholders' knowledge and perceptions about their river basin with their preferences for options to adapt the management of their river basins to future conditions.