1 SLIM Social Learning for the Integrated Management and Sustainable Use of Water at Catchment Scale Barcelona Feb 2003 Kevin Collins Open University UK

2 Introduction Overview of SLIM Approaches to social learning Emerging themes Conceptual and methodological issues Public participation in the WFD….

3 Aims & Objectives To explore how a ‘social learning’ approach can contribute to more sustainable use of water –Develop interactive approaches to management of natural resources based on social learning –Develop guidelines and methods for capacity building among stakeholders –Explore how this can be scaled up to river basin management

4 Methodological Approaches Multi-disciplinary  ‘Systems practice' and learning approaches (UK)  Analysis and development of agro-ecosystems (France)  Facilitation of social learning and platform development (The Netherlands)  Analysis and maintenance of sustainable ecological services (Italy)  Adaptive management and social learning through GIS (Sweden)

5 Deliverables Reviews of social learning in watershed management & stakeholder involvement Methods and guidelines for facilitating development of ‘learning platforms’ A set of ‘learning experiences’ for stakeholders in policy development Development of a interactive ‘learning programme’ for policy-makers and practitioners Web-based resource and learning materials

6 Social Learning Not a new idea! Not easily defined either! Multiple definitions from psychology; education; sociology, anthropology etc Common themes: change in behaviour change in potential to behave differently change in the learner change that cannot be understood without understanding context

7 Social Learning (2) Group learning as more than the sum of individual learning Social learning as an attempt to conceive of combined learning and problem solving activities which take place within participatory systems such as groups, social networks etc Situated in conditions which are new, unexpected, uncertain, conflictual and unpredictable (Wildermeesch et al, 1999, 2002)

8 Working Definition of Social Learning …. Increased awareness and understanding of multiple perspectives leading to an increase in connections and negotiation for joint action in the sustainable use and management of resources, including natural resources, within catchments Implies: Transformation of multiple cognitive systems into a shared cognitive system An iterative process of knowledge co-production between actors involved in social interactions Working with and actively exploring multiple perspectives A dynamic process

9 SLIM’s focus Research and co-research to explore social learning in terms of: Context Stakeholders and stakeholding Facilitation Institutions and organisations Decision-making processes Practices in ICM Learning processes Learning about our own learning

10 SLIM’s experiences suggest … Context – very significant Stakeholders – problem of multiple values Facilitation – a key ‘accelerator’ of social learning Institutions & organisations – opportunities for learning in-between boundaries Decision-making - participation does not guarantee social learning

11 Some questions… How do we make sense of a dynamic situation How do we make this available to other stakeholders to raise their systemic awareness? How do we learn from each other? How does social learning become embedded in new communities of practice and policy? How will we know?

12 More questions…. Methodological problems of identifying social learning over time / scale within project deadlines: –Who decides what is being learned? –What constitutes social learning: changed ideas and / or changed practices? –What evidence is acceptable and to whom? –Context: how to generalise findings? –How do we understand power in social learning?

13 Conditions for Social Learning Adopting a social learning approach in water resource management is dependent on: –Willingness to collaborate –Building trust –Sharing understanding –Learning with rather than from –Identifying mutual benefits to you and stakeholders –Being open about uncertainty –Being open to emergent opportunities