1 Public Participation in International Waters Management GEF International Waters Conference June 20-25, 2005 Salvador, Brazil

2 ELI ELI is a non-profit public interest research, policy, and capacity-building organization. ELI provides information services, advice, publications, training courses, seminars, research programs and policy recommendations to engage and empower environmental leaders the world over. Our international waters program works to FILL IN Who We Are

3 The ELI/IW:LEARN Initiative ELI and IW:LEARN are partnering to address the needs expressed at the last GEF IW Conference for capacity- building related to public participation in IWM. Research and Materials Development : Identify lessons learned from both GEF and non-GEF contexts Analyze underlying social, cultural, ecological, political and economic factors that contribute to successes and failures – transferability Identify gaps and work with GEF project partners to fill those gaps Workshops Peer-to-peer exchanges at regional level and cross-regional levels Develop resource materials with project partners Three regional workshops over next three years

4 Goals of Today’s Workshop Introduction to our 3-year capacity-building initiative on public participation in IWM Provide you with an opportunity to share project- level experiences with public participation and stakeholder involvement Identify greatest challenges faced and areas of greatest need for capacity-building at project level and how we can best address those needs

5 International Definitions of P2: evolution of the “three pillars” Rio Declaration Principle 10: Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities…and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes…Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided The Aarhus Convention Inter-American Strategy (ISP) Resource-specific instruments/international water law

6 What is the value of P2 in IWM? More equitable outcomes: P2 as a right Better substantive outcomes Consensus Managing Stakeholder Expectations Conflict Aversion/Resolution Improved governance

7 Designing and Implementing P2 Stakeholder Identification Stakeholder Analysis Engaging stakeholders/building stakeholder capacity Timing issues (when to do P2 and how to avoid “project fatigue”) Involving local authorities and grassroots stakeholders and issues of representivity Effective communication/translation of technical information Institutionalization

8 Questions What are your experiences (both positive and negative) with implementing P2 in your project(s)? What lessons did you learn from these experiences and how might those be used to assist other projects? What do you need to improve implementation of P2 in your work?