Public participation in watershed management:international practices for inclusiveness

This paper outlines a number of examples from around the world of participatory processes for watershed decision-making, and discusses how they work, why they are important, their social and ecological potential, and the practical details of how to start, expand and develop them. Because of longstanding power differentials in all societies along gender, class and ethnic lines, equitable public participation requires the recognition that different members of society have different kinds of relationships with the environment in general, and with water in particular. From a range of political perspectives, inclusive participatory governance processes have many benefits. The author has recently completed a 5 year project linking universities and NGOs in Brazil and Canada to develop methods of broadening public engagement in local watershed management committees, with a special focus on gender and marginalized communities. The innovative environmental education and multi-lingual international public engagement practices of the Centre for Socio-Environmental Knowledge and Care of the La Plata Basin (which spans Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia) are also discussed in this paper.This research was supported by the International Development Research Centr

Public participation as participatory conflict resolution: Shortcomings and best practices at the local level in South Africa

In South Africa the constitutional order brought about by the transition to democracy, and the subsequent policy and legislation frameworks, have enabled ordinary people to participate in governance and policy making. Yet, according to some studies, the importance of participation – agreed to by politicians, practised and promoted by academics – has yet to be translated into a lived reality at the local level. In this paper, I write about the debates on participation, its advantages, and disadvantages.This paper offers an additional resource to public participation practitioners and beneficiaries, aiding them in the use of negotiation, mediation, and generic conflict resolution approaches to resolve public participation stalemates, and in the process, to strengthen and legitimise those public participation processes. Drawing on the existing literature, I describe what works and why; I also point out the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. Ultimately, the objective is to share the complementary nature of conflict resolution and public participation, and show how – if they are combined effectively – public participation can be enhanced.While I strongly believe that the literature supports my contention that conflict resolution principles and practices are useful for fair and equitable public participation, I do not have authoritative empirical evidence to state this as fact. Nonetheless, I believe that the ‘best practices’ outlined in the  paper are useful and valuable tools and should be implemented as far as possible

The Rise of Digital Justice: Courtroom Technology, Public Participation and Access to Justice

This article addresses a little discussed yet fundamentally important aspect of legal technological transformation: the rise of digital justice in the courtroom. Against the backdrop of the government’s current programme of digital court modernisation in England and Wales, it examines the implications of advances in courtroom technology for fair and equitable public participation, and access to justice. The article contends that legal reforms have omitted any detailed consideration of the type and quality of citizen participation in newly digitised court processes which have fundamental implications for the legitimacy and substantive outcomes of court-based processes; and for enhancing democratic procedure through improved access to justice. It is argued that although digital court tools and systems offer great promise for enhancing efficiency, participation and accessibility, they simultaneously have the potential to amplify the scope for injustice, and to attenuate central principles of the legal system, including somewhat paradoxically, access to justice

Gender and international climate policy: An analysis of progress in gender equality at COP21

While women play an important role in agriculture, environmental and natural resource management, they have greater financial or resource constraints, and lower levels of access to information and extension services than men (Tall et al. 2014). Because of these gender inequalities, women appear to be less able to adapt to climate change (Huyer et al. 2015). Rural women’s workload, e.g. biomass and water collection, is affected by natural disasters and the changing climate with consequences on family nutrition, childcare and education. Cultural norms related to gender roles may limit the ability of women to respond to or make quick decisions in the face of climate events. For example, in some households where men are working off-farm in cities, women may lack the power to make timely farming decisions or to convince their husbands to agree to new practices (Asfaw et al. 2015; Goering 2015)

Institutional reforms at main canal level and their water allocation and yield impacts : A case from South Ferghana Canal, Uzbekistan

Institutional development / Organizational change / Water users associations / Irrigation management / Canals / Water allocation / Water distribution / Irrigated farming / Cotton / Wheat / Yields / Uzbekistan / South Ferghana Canal

Addressing the Arnstein Gap: Improving Public Confidence in Transportation Planning and Design through Structured Public Involvement (SPI)

The Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, or TEA-21, enacted in 1998, following the Intermodal SurfaceTransportation Equity Act (ISTEA) of 1991, defines the “public” as “citizens, affected public agencies, representatives of transportation agency employees, freight shippers, private providers of transportation, representatives of users of public transit, providers of freight transportation services and other interested parties.” More recently the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has expanded this definition to include underrepresented groups “such as low income or minority households and the elderly”. In the last decade public involvement has been mandated for all metropolitan and statewide planning processes (TEA), and it has been integrated explicitly into a variety of programs such as Context Sensitive Design and the Transportation and Community and Systems Preservation (TCSP) program. Ideally, public involvement facilitates the understanding and incorporation of community values into the plans and designs for new infrastructure. This feedback permits the engineer or planner to assess accurately the level of understanding the public has acquired regarding the project. A positive signal occurs when the public begins to supply useful and insightful comments regar ding a proposed activity. Because they better understand costs and benefits, as interpreted by the public, the professionals work more productively and accurately toward satisfactory trade-offs. This knowledge interchange can in turn help to avoid and resolve public opposition to particular aspects of a proposed project, and even whether the project should be pursued in the first place. Construction delays are minimized and consequently, more time and money is spent on building projects that the public really supports. In the long run meaningful public involvement increases public confidence in the sponsoring agencies and public officials in general; this is sometimes termed improved “civic capacity”. For many reasons, then, public involvement should be prioritized

The Role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Rural Development of Nigeria

Information and Communication Technology  (ICT), the world over, has gained prominence,  especially in the area of communication, to the extent that the level of understanding of several tenets in every sphere of life has also been better understood, arising from the gains of communication empowered by technology.  It is common knowledge to aver that communication that is imbued with digital ingredients know no boundaries.  It means, therefore, that information and communication technology cut across all shades of people, irrespective of culture, location among others, provided that the accessibility is ultimately guaranteed.  Thus, in Africa, rural dwellers are kept abreast with happenings globally with the instrumentality of information and communication technologies, their location notwithstanding. However, there are myriad of gains accruable from the existence of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Africa, especially in the realm of rural development.  It is also evident that there are challenges inherent in their use. This article x-rays the role of ICTs in rural development in Nigeria, juxtaposing it with their challenges. Keywords: ICT, Rural, Development, Nigeria, Afric

Democracy in the Digital Era as a Challenge and Opportunity for Public Participation

Information and communication technology (ICT) has brought about significant changes in the political system and government, especially in facilitating public participation and promoting democratic values. This paper discusses the challenges and opportunities faced in strengthening public participation in democracy in the digital era. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach with a literature and data review method to discuss the extent to which ICT can increase public participation in the context of democracy. The research results show that information and communication technology provides new opportunities for public participation in political and governmental processes. Public participation through democracy in the digital era can increase accessibility, speed up the decision-making process and increase transparency in government. However, challenges such as the digital divide, information trust and security, and lack of organized citizen participation must be overcom

Participatory Modeling of Tidal Circulation on Maine Mudflats to Improve Water Quality Management of Shellfish Areas

Over the past decade, researchers have become increasingly aware of the vital role stakeholder knowledge plays in understanding complex social and environmental problems. Incorporating stakeholder knowledge into understanding complex problems allows for greater awareness and identification of community needs and can help build partnerships to support the development of applied research. In this thesis, I demonstrate the value of stakeholder knowledge and research partnerships by focusing on the soft-shell clamming industry in Maine and how a complex collaboration between clammers, municipal officials, representatives from state agencies, researchers, and other partners relied on and build adaptive capacity to address complex water quality issues within a watershed. One of the major threats facing the soft-shell clam industry is mudflat closures due to water quality concerns. Many of these large area closures are based on sparse monitoring and enforcement constraints that can cause clam flats to be closed due to presumed fecal coliform contamination when they do not need to be. This thesis is organized into two chapters. In the first chapter, I address this research need and opportunity using hydrographic and bacterial monitoring data coupled with knowledge from local clammers in an engaged research project to describe circulation dynamics that influence the fate and transport of fecal coliforms in the Medomak River estuary, the most productive clam flat in the state of Maine from 2015-2017. The novel aspect of this engaged approach is the direct participation of clammers and other stakeholders in the design of research questions and methodology. I worked with the Medomak Taskforce to understand their information needs and tailored the research to meet those needs and this thesis is organized into two distinct studies. Bucket drifter experiments were used to calculate tidal excursion and provide dispersion metrics during varying environmental conditions (i.e., tide stage and river flow). These experiments found the dominate environmental factors effecting circulation in this estuary were changes in cross sectional area, tidal forces, and wind, and using a computer model that included drifter data, I was able to calculate residence time of fresh water in these areas. In the second chapter of this thesis, I focus more specifically on how collaborative projects can improve the overall management of the soft-shell clamming industry. I used semistructured interview protocols, along with extended engagement methods provided for qualitative datasets, which were analyzed through NVivo Software®. Interview data was to understand the communication between state management and community management in regards to adaptive capacity. I found that the collaborative project, the Medomak Taskforce, influenced and supported multiple aspects of adaptive capacity. A major goal of this research was to use engaged research approaches to design the research so it would support decision making needs for water quality monitoring and for ongoing collaborative efforts in this watershed. It is hoped that the results will be used by state agencies to better characterize the temporal and spatial dynamics of pollution sources in an effort to make more informed decisions