Present & Future: Visualising ideas of water infrastructure design

In redevelopment and redesign of small water structures local water governing institutions are increasingly required to and requesting that the planning processes are set up in a participatory manner. Participatory decision making processes are set up to bring stakeholders with different backgrounds, ideas, experiences and expertise together. Ideally they work collectively towards finding a solution to a problem situation. Because of their differences, stakeholders often have different ideas about the problem situation and about the ways to solve it. Discussions take place and ideas are expressed in words or text as each stakeholder tries to explain his view of the situation and possible solution. The mind, however, is more slowly stirred by the ear than by the eye. From literature about previous research activities in sociology, anthropology and systems thinking it was learnt that pictorial visuals can be used to stimulate participants to take part and strongly contribute to the analysis of the situation. Visuals could provide a better understanding of a subject than words alone could. During this research a methodology called yourScape was developed. It is made up of a number of steps that enable and stimulate stakeholders to make and use two-dimensional, still (non-moving) visuals of their ideas of small water infrastructures at present and in the future. In asking stakeholder to make their own visuals by drawing or making collages yourScape is rather unique compared to other participatory methodologies that use visuals. The research shows that own-made visuals can help stakeholders identify which differences and similarities there are in their ideas of the problem situation and of possible solutions. Through group discussions stakeholders collectively identify and analyse what these differences mean for continued work on redevelopment and redesign of small water infrastructures.Water Resources ManagementCivil Engineering and Geoscience