Learning together to manage together : improving participation in water management

To support the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD), a common implementation strategy has been developed by the EU Member States and the European Commission. In order to increase the understanding of participatory river basin management an approach to social learning in combination with tools and methods meant for supporting public participation and social learning processes in water management was developed for water managers who are responsible for the implementation of the Directive.

Stakeholders have to come to a better understanding of the river basin, their uses of the basin and their impact on the basin.

How to build up trust among the different stakeholders, develop a common view on the issues at stake, resolve conflicts, arrive at joint solutions that are technically sound and implemented in practice, and encourage “active involvement of all interested parties” in river basin management as required by the WFD are investigated and explained. Different European experiences were collected and analysed and nine case studies are serving as best practice exemples.

The handbook is also of interest to other actors, such as decision-makers, administrators, NGOs, water users etc., involved in river basin management or in other types of natural resource management.It offers practical guidance to the development of participation processes that meet the actual needs of stakeholders and aims to serve as a reference book for the selection of adequate participatory methods. In the context of the handbook, public participation is understood as a continuously ongoing process.