The Public Involvement in AquaStress: Building Cooperation

1
The Public Involvement in AquaStressBuilding
Cooperation

• Info Day
• 18 November 2005, Poland
• Prof. D. Assimacopoulos, NTUA

2
The Problem and the Vision

• Water stress is a serious threat to
  sustainability
• Mitigation of water stress is a major goal and a
  transition is needed towards
• Soft-path solutions
• Decentralised decision-making
• Equitable pricing
• Equity of access
• To this process
• Public Participation is of outmost importance

3
Water StressThe Context Processes

• Water stress exists when the quantity and
  quality of available water does not meet human
  and ecological needs at all spatial and temporal
  scales

4
The Public Participation issue 30 years of
progress

• Stockholm Declaration on Human Environment,
  1972Recognizes the need for governmental
  public cooperation for protection improvement
  of the environment
• Brundtland Commission, 1987Sustainable
  development includes environmental, economic,
  and social dimensions
• Rio Declaration on Sustainable Development,
  1992Sustainable development through encouraging
  public participation
• Aarhus Convention, 1998Environmental justice
  through public participation in decision-making
• UN Millennium Declaration, 2000Include social
  equity and public involvement in problem solving
• Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable
  Development, 2002 Public participation and
  involvement in decision-making is a basic
  requirement of sustainable development on global
  scale

5
The Public Involvement Requirement in the Water
Framework Directive

• Article 14
• Member States shall encourage the active
  involvement of all interested parties in the
  implementation of this Directive, in particular
  in the production, review and updating of the
  river basin management plans
• 3 forms of Stakeholder engagement
• Access to background information
• Consultation within the planning process
• Active Involvement in the planning and
  implementation of water management plans

6
Striving towards the Vision
7
The AquaStress approach
PUBLIC Stakeholder Fora/Council

• Characterisation
• Water demand availability / sector
• Indicators for option assessment

• Providing Options
• Technologies
• Water management
• Policies
• Economic incentives

Users acceptance
IT Platform Toolboxfor Collaborative Planning
Feasibility Studies
Option Implementation Securing water supply for
users and the environment
8
The AQUASTRESS Test Sites

• Przemsza, Poland
• Iskar, Bulgaria
• Guadiana, Portugal
• Flumendosa, Italy
• Tadla, Morocco
• Limassol, Cyprus
• Vecht, Netherlands
• Merguellil, Tunisia

9
AquaStress A Stakeholder Driven Project

• Stakeholders determine the problems, options to
  be tested
• Stakeholders will be the final arbiters of
  success and failure
• Dialogue between experts and stakeholders

10
A Ladder of Citizen ParticipationS.R. Arnstein,
1969
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Participatory processin AquaStress
LEVEL OF PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
ACHIEVED THROUGH
12
Public Involvement in AquaStress
Project LevelJoint Assemblies
Local (Test Site) Level
Regional
Partner
Stakeholder
Council
B
ound
by
Contract
Public
Local
Public
Bound by
Stakeholder
Stakeholder
Protocol
of
Forum
Forum
c
ooperation
Delegates
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Benefits to Stakeholders

• Access to
• Information/data that has been accumulated
  through AquaStress procedures and activities
  either locally or in other Test Site regions
• Expertise and knowledge on technical and
  non-technical options for water stress mitigation
• Programs, guidelines, training manuals
• A collaborative Internet Forum for all AquaStress
  parties

• Networking
• A regional network of stakeholders
• An international network of stakeholders
  (Stakeholders from 8 Test Sites 8 countries)

14
Info Day

• To be realised in all Test Sites
• Objectives
• To introduce AquaStress to the Public
• To sign a protocol of cooperation between the
  AquaStress and the Local Stakeholders
• To define
• Objectives
• Activities
• Indicators for work progress and LPSF operation

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Protocol of Cooperation

• Endorses the formation of the Local Public
  Stakeholder Forum (LPSF)
• Establishes cooperation between the AquaStress IP
  and the LPSF
• Sets the basic goals of collaboration towards
• Engaging/Promoting sustainable water stress
  mitigation options
• Integrating local water stress issues and
  concerns into the European dimension
• Supporting socially-driven research in water
  stress
• Engaging concerted and locally sensitive actions

16
From the Protocol to Activity Planning
SituationAnalysis
StakeholderAnalysis
ProblemAnalysis
ObjectivesAnalysis
ActivitiesPlanning
AlternativesAnalysis
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Situation Problem analysis

• Situation analysis
• Perception of Stakeholders Users on
• Pressures
• Drivers
• Impacts
• Responses
• Problem analysis Identification of Impacts and
  Focal Problems by identifying root causes and
  forming the Problem tree

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DPSIR Framework
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Focal Problems

• Perceived as
• Environmental stresses
• Resource Depletion
• Ecosystem Degradation
• Social concerns
• Access to resources
• Water uses
• Cost and its allocation to users
• Development implications
• Social priorities
• Strategies
• Master plans
• Water Deficit

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An ExampleSea intrusion and Aquifer depletion
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Water Stress Mitigation Identifying Responses /
Options

• Objectives analysisFrom Impacts to Responses
• Supply oriented
• Alternative water resources
• Integrated surface/groundwater management
• Demand oriented
• Technologies for water saving
• Practices of water saving
• Incentive mechanisms for balancing demand and
  supply using socio-economic instruments
• Procedural methods

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Transforming Options to Case Studies

• Case Studies
• In-depth plans covering selected issues and
  possibly selected regions within the Test-Sites
• Implementation of specific options or combination
  of options in all or part of a Test Site

• External Case studies
• Experiences from actual implementations or
  experiments in the past to serve as input to the
  knowledge base on (cost-effectiveness of)
  measures
• Virtual implementation
• Field implementation

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Issues for consideration

• Case Study prerequisites
• Innovation
• Potential for evaluation
• Feasibility (technically institutionally) of
  implementation
• Stakeholder acceptance
• Constraints and Risks in implementation
• Solutions Ways to overcome constraints
• Output monitoring evaluation
• Confirmed involvement of stakeholders

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Case Studies The Roadmap
Identification of potential Mitigating Options
Review of alternatives in the LPSF
Month 18
Selection of options
LPSF reaches decision on Options to be tested
Case Study Definition
Discussion in the 1st Joint Assembly (Month 12)
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18 month onwards Framework of cooperation

• Project planning is not a linear process
• One does not move mechanistically from one step
  to the next, always in a forward direction, and
  arrive automatically at the best solution
• Planning is an iterative and creative process,
  and selecting a design option often involves
  significant leaps in thinking which cannot be
  neatly slotted into a stage in the planning
  process

26
Thank you