Connecting People for Better Coastal Water Management in Europe Carlo Sessa – ISIS AWARE Evaluation Workshop Brussels – 20th October 2011 AWARE is funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme.

About AWARE Working for sustainable water ecosystems management by means of scientists, citizens and decision-makers knowledge brokerage Limited participation adaptive management Traditional management Integrated adaptive management Scientists Public Public AWARE’s focus is on human-caused deterioration of coastal water ecosystems. The project engages scientists, policy makers and the public in jointly creating and analysing scenarios for improved water management in coastal areas. AWARE’s participatory approach is crucial: it develops further the concept of integrated adaptive ecosystem management, by creating active roles for public participation. This strengthens the consultations between local residents, research and policy communities and facilitates common strategies. The project implements this approach in three case studies : the coastal waters of the Gulf of Riga (Estonia and Latvia), the Seine, Somme, and Schelder river basins and the Southern North Sea coastal zone (France and Belgium), and the Po river Delta and Goro lagoon (Italy). Public Scientists Managers Managers Scientists Managers

A Paradigm Shift: From Science-Policy Interface (SPI) to Science-Citizens-Policy Interface (SCPI). SPI paradigm: Scientists and Policy Makers elaborate a policy and “sell” it to the end users (technocratic/marketing approach) Policy formulation and selection mostly founded on marketing techniques: Surveying the opinions of a statistically representative sample of the population AWARE’s focus is on human-caused deterioration of coastal water ecosystems. The project engages scientists, policy makers and the public in jointly creating and analysing scenarios for improved water management in coastal areas. AWARE’s participatory approach is crucial: it develops further the concept of integrated adaptive ecosystem management, by creating active roles for public participation. This strengthens the consultations between local residents, research and policy communities and facilitates common strategies. The project implements this approach in three case studies : the coastal waters of the Gulf of Riga (Estonia and Latvia), the Seine, Somme, and Schelder river basins and the Southern North Sea coastal zone (France and Belgium), and the Po river Delta and Goro lagoon (Italy). SCPI paradigm: Scientists, Citizens and Policy Makers co-create a policy (democratic/deliberative approach) Policy formulation and selection mostly founded on cognitive techniques: Working together with a panel of cognitively different citizens

Pilot experiments of citizens’ panel deliberation The missing step: From pilot SCPI experiments to wider adoption of the SCPI paradigm. Pilot experiments of citizens’ panel deliberation (AWARE case studies) AWARE’s focus is on human-caused deterioration of coastal water ecosystems. The project engages scientists, policy makers and the public in jointly creating and analysing scenarios for improved water management in coastal areas. AWARE’s participatory approach is crucial: it develops further the concept of integrated adaptive ecosystem management, by creating active roles for public participation. This strengthens the consultations between local residents, research and policy communities and facilitates common strategies. The project implements this approach in three case studies : the coastal waters of the Gulf of Riga (Estonia and Latvia), the Seine, Somme, and Schelder river basins and the Southern North Sea coastal zone (France and Belgium), and the Po river Delta and Goro lagoon (Italy). User Created Policies (Citizens’ participation by means of collective awareness platforms on Internet)

AWARE Objectives To foster sustainable water ecosystems management To enhance connectivity between research, policy making and the public To link research to policy development regarding sustainable water ecosystems management AWARE posits that there is a potential for better connectivity between actors and that there is a need to improve it in the short term

AWARE Case Studies Pilot experiments were undertaken in: The coastal waters of the Gulf of Riga (Estonia and Latvia) The Seine, Somme, and Schelder river basins and the Southern North Sea coastal zone (France and Belgium) The Po river Delta and Goro lagoon (Italy)

Project Partners Coordinated by the Institute of Studies for the Integration of Systems (ISIS), 14 partners from 8 European countries brought their experience to AWARE: Aquatic ecosystems studies Social sciences System analysis Integrated water management Decision support systems for the environment University of Uppsala  Université Pierre and Marie Curie  Université Libre de Brussels  Università di Parma  adelphi  Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in Social Sciences  Missions Publiques  Istituto di Studi per l'Integrazione dei Sistemi  Joint Research Center - Institute for Environment and Sustainability  Università di Siena  Bioforsk  Politecnico di Milano  Baltic Environmental Forum

AWARE Knowledge Brokerage 1st European citizen workshop Gulf of Riga stakeholder workshop & conference North Sea stakeholder workshop & conference Sacca di Goro stakeholder workshop & conference 2nd European citizen workshop European conference on linking research to policy

AWARE Process Local Declaration European Declaration! Local Conference Decision-makers Scientists 10 local Citizens Local Conference process Decision-makers Local Declaration Stake-holders Scientists All 30 AWARE Citizens European Conference process European Declaration! Stake-holders

The AWARE (potential) Benefits: Connects the EU and regional/local levels Engages randomly selected transnational groups of citizens as catalysers of connectivity, knowledge brokerage and policy formulation Creates a “public sphere” for transparent dialogue among scientists, citizens, stakeholders, and policy makers Produces citizen declarations for sustainability, raising awareness for all actors involved May trigger adaptation of policies and programmes, at local and EU levels Enhances “social capital” across Europe, and can be replicated across countries and topics of sustainability

AWARE Citizen Mandate “To provide their own assessment and recommendations to key European decision makers on why and how to link research, policy making and public participation for a better management of coastal environments in Europe” Become aware of the key issues and challenges Provide local knowledge Drive the local process Share findings at local and European level

Citizen Recommendations A holistic approach to coastal water management „eutrophication is only one point of entry into broader ecosystem health issues“ Continued improvement in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) „we the citizens are concerned about the quality of our coastal waters and by the lack of consistency in water quality data“ Local solutions, now „the time for action has come… and all options should be evaluated against local environmental and socioeconomic criteria“

Citizen Recommendations Better connectivity between research, policy-making, and civil society „scientific ambassadors could ‘translate’ critical information for citizens, business representative, and politicians alike“ Improved information to key actors „dialogue involving farmers, fishers, tourist agency, and citizens is crucial… and a special focus should be placed on children’s education“ „We as citizens are willing to take the first steps and hope other parties will follow. Join us in this change!”

For more information about AWARE – including the citizen declarations and other publications – please see www.aware-eu.net AWARE receives funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement n° 226456. The contents of this poster are the sole responsibility of the AWARE project and the European Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.