the Water Framework Directive Public Participation and the Water Framework Directive under WG 2.9 Best Practices in River Basin Planning

Why PP? to obtain essential information, experience, creativity to get a policy better adapted to all day society, more legitimacy to get commitment and acceptation in implementation to build a network, culture of co-operation general improvement of the outcome Let's put these questions up for PP itself. Now I start talking a lot about "them", they are the stakeholders. Of course in the beginning it will cost you time, but you will gain it in the end of the process ad commitment and acceptation: a common result will give ownership of decisions and make people more committed BE CAREFUL, it can become a drama if you will not make the step to real implementation of the achieved outcome.

What is PP? - "Container concept" information consultation participation shared decision making self determination + - responsibility Practically everything is put under the word "" public participation" nowadays, however there are clear levels of participation to be distinguished. For every issue it has to be defined well which type of participation is aimed at. The PP for the WFD stops at the third step in this ladder (dotted line), it is for MS to decide if they want to go further. Do never forget, as stakeholder or leader of the process, that the more you participate, the more the responsibility for the outcome increases . Therefore the principle of 3xW+H is used--> see further on;

MS is manager of process PP & WFD Article 14 INFORMATION INFORMATION CONSULTATION CONSULTATION ACTIVE ACTIVE SUPPLY SUPPLY INVOLVEMENT INVOLVEMENT Article 14 describes 3 forms of PP: Information supply, Consultation and Active Involvement. The first two steps are obligatory (MS shall ensure) and the last one is more open (MS shall encourage) but not voluntary. MS have to report on their efforts. See also text of Article 14, Annex VII 9, 11. Before embarking on PP-projects a good framework with boundary conditions has to be established to make clear to participants who is in charge (decision-making/form of participation/). From WFD perspective the MS or competent authorities bear responsibility and will also be managers of the process and decide how the process will be designed,which decision-making procedures are agreed upon etc. (of course they can outsource the job but they will still be the responsible ones in the end). Besides Article 14 two preambles indicate PP in the WFD (14, 46) shall be ensured shall be encouraged MS is manager of process

→ Stakeholder analysis Who is the "public"? interested parties = stakeholders group organisation person with an interest in the issue (affected / influence) choose relevant stakeholders degree of interest existing institutions same rights? The WFD mentions "public" and "interested parties". These notions are summarized by the word "stakeholder". In general one could say that anybody who will be affected or whoms activities will be influenced by an intended plan/project is seen as a stakeholder : someone with something at stake. There are different types of stakeholders (groups, persons, organisations) which can be given different degrees of participation, based on interest, rights, tradition etc. This profile and the according role to be played shall be very clear in advance to the stakeholder to avoid frustrations (communication/management of expectations). As mentioned before, the stakeholder analysis will provide you with an insight in the type and role/rights of the the stakeholder. → Stakeholder analysis

Start early involvement - Start now! Timing WFD Information & consultation about: - 2006 time table & work programme - 2007 overview of significant water management issues - 2008 draft copies of river basin management plan Preamble, pt 14 says : The success of this Direcctive relies on close cooperation and coherent action at Community, Member State and local level as well as on information, consultation and involvement of the public, including users. Start early involvement - Start now!

When?- Scale issue SCALE TIME n RBD RB1 RB2 WB1 Information exchange Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage n 1 2 n RBD RB1 RB2 WB1 Information exchange For the WFD this results in a tremendous amount of process-steps at different scales in which PP can be applied. Every form of PP (information supply, consultation, active involvement) can be practiced at any level, as long as the process is well managed and a good stakeholder analysis is performed. Active involvement at River Basin District scale is no problem as long as the right stakeholders are participating (e.g. bigger NGO's like WWF and large unions, but not one single fisheries union in the Mosel district. On the other hand might some smaller stakeholders be of importance if they are the holders of interesting information). This requires a good stakeholder analysis!! It is of vital importance that the different scales communicate the existence&contents of PP-projects. Any central body (ICPR for example) could be a point of support for this. Ideally should one (or more) stakeholders that participate at one level participate on another level/project as well as "messengers", to avoid duplication of work and guarantee a good information flow.

→ Stakeholder analysis PP is NOT about: everybody joining everybody deciding always PP losing control achieving consensus at all expenses ad 1 - Be selective with your actors, they have to reflect the right interest ad 2 - make clear what the responsibilities are for whom, usually the government will be the responsible party. ad 3 - it is no law (not yet at least), if there is no time, no money or social basis, then no PP ad 4 - do organize it well and clear and strategically ad5 - you will never achieve consensus, everybody still has his own wishes, this is a compromise. Otherwise no problems had been there from the beginning. A good stakeholder analysis (who shall participate and why and when) will tell you more. → Stakeholder analysis

BUT about: Management of expectations Two-way communication Tailor-made, no blue print Management of Expectations is the most important slogan in relation to PP: be clear about boundary conditions (budget, time, role of certain stakeholders, which form of PP is practiced, what will be done with the outcome, who decides in the end etc.), be transparant about anything, this will keep participants happy, prevents frustration, gives participants a feeling of ownership. And the manager of the process is less vulnerable because more "process-watchdogs" will be alert. Important to stress that for PP no blue prints exist. The process should be tailor-made at any time since we are dealing with different circumstances: politicians, timing, budget, stakeholders etc. Do not forget to up-date everybody regularily on the (intermediate) results. Example of management of expectations: a lake restoration project was embraced by local citizens who did everything to reduce nutrification of the lake. The measures were successful with regard to discharges. After 2 years people wondered why the water quality itself did not improve (fish, turbidity). The managers of the process had forgotten to tell the citizens that restoration of eco-systems can take up to 20 years, this could easily be explained afterwards, but the deception of the participants was evident. Feed-back to participants No predetermined outcome

Guidance on PP Status 10/02: Draft guidance, version 1.1 Contents: main text toolbox inspiring examples addresses of drafting group Future: Pilot river basin testing Reporting

Timing for PP guidance 3 oct 2002 End of consultation round 7-8 oct 2002 Workshop in Amsterdam 14-15 oct 2002 WG 2.9 meeting revise / finalize guidance 24 oct 2002 Finalized version for SCG + WD 7-8 nov 2002 SCG 21-22 nov 2002 WD meeting Copenhagen

Guidance of Public Participation Workshop on Guidance of Public Participation 7 & 8 October 2002 in Amsterdam please contact: j.verkerk@riza.rws.minvenw.nl