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Testing of innovative Public Participation methods in water management. Margit Säre Peipsi CTC. Today ’ s Situation
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Testing of innovative Public Participation methods in water management Margit Säre Peipsi CTC
Today’s Situation • Among water managers as well as NGOs there is not enough knowledge about diverse approaches to PP, what are the different methods and channels to involve various stakeholder groups • Innovative PP methods are needed, to securethat concerns of localpeople are incorporated in WM plans
Peipsi CTC (www.ctc.ee)tested different innovative public participation methods, to bring the voice of local stakeholders to the respective governments- Group interviews-Focus groups - Citizens´ juries
EU 5th Framework program funded: Empowerment and Awareness Building in River Basin Management Through Focus Groups and Citizens Juries - River Dialogue
Lake Peipsi Emajõgi River
FOCUS GROUP determining issues of concern on regional scale A focus group is a planned discussion among a small group of people on a specific topic. Peipsi CTC conducted 9 focus groups on water management issues with major stakeholder groups in Emajõgi river basin Focus groups proved to be an effective approach that could be used on the water management planning stage to collect opinions of stakeholders about major issues in a river basin
CITIZENS’ JURIES– public input in to developing solutionsof water management problems Citizen´s jury is a randomly selected panel of people whomeet for 2-5 days for a careful examination of an issue of public significance in the locality. A group (12-16 people) hear evidence, question witnesses from different sectors, discuss the issue and then make an informed judgment (reccommendations).This PP method promotes political dialogue aimed at mutual understanding, which does not mean that people will agree, but rather that they try to resolve conflicts by discussion
The idea behind Citizen Juries is that given enough time and information, ordinary people can make decisions about complex policy issues Citizen juries have been used on: • environmental issues (storage of nuclear wastes); • budget priorities; • - health care reform; • Education policy etc.
Citizens´ Jury“Water transport on River Emajõgi. What would be the compromise between the interests of local inhabitants environmentalists and entrepreneurs?” - Random selection of participants – 700 invitations were sent • Presentations of witnesses from different sectors: river port, nature reserve, NGO, engineer, businessman • At the end of the day Jury compiled their recommendations • Report was sent to respective organisations dealing with River Emajõgi WM issues
Citizens’Juryproved that also ordinary people are able to discuss complex environmental management issues after presentation and possibility for give questionsNext stage:transboundary citizen jury. However, here are problems in connection with high expenses of visa and travel; working language.
GWP PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Task Force …is working to contribute to increased public involvement in RBMP through various info dissemination and net- working activities
TASK 4 Report on PP in Baltic countries and Polandwas prepared in cooperation with Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish contact points in Dec. 2004
GWP Public Participation Task Force www.riverdialogue.org/participation