Factors influencing people’s willingness to participate in sustainable water resources management in Malaysia

Public and stakeholder participation in water management is a crucial element in the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). Theoretically, the WFD identifies several advantages of public participation, such as the better use of knowledge and experiences from different stakeholders, increases in public acceptance and reduced litigation, delays, and inefficiencies in implementation. However, few studies have gone as deep, in practical terms, as the existing difficulty to introduce public participation in water management. The aim of this study was to cover this issue. It aims to conduct a literature review on public participation looking for successful social innovation experiences by the EU member states and also for the main limitations and difficulties of implementation detailing the study of the Spanish case.

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) in effect since 2000, mandates public participation in water management. The directive's requirements are general, leaving it up to the EU Member States to determine how to address the issue. Using case studies, this paper discusses some of the benefits brought about by public participation in water management. The cases are part of a collaborative project involving rural regions in six countries bordering the North Sea, aimed at gaining experience in the implementation of the WFD in rural areas. The findings reveal that working together with key stakeholders and communities has two main outcomes: improved quality and plan effectiveness; and increased acceptance and ownership of plans, leading to successful implementation.

The paper reviews the experience of public participation in water management decisions since the political transition in Hungary. Ongoing practices of public participation are examined through the critical analysis of three cases: (i) the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam project which has been known as the source of Europe's longest and most complex transboundary environmental conflict; (ii) the development of water quality legislation by the national government; and (iii) an integrated land use planning project in the region of the Szentendrei-island. Based on the above cases, factors promoting and hindering effective public participation are identified. Key promoting factors include the activity and professionalism of civil society organizations, the financial support provided by international funding agencies and other foreign sponsors, the methodological support provided by professional organizations, and the social learning process taking place in the society. Factors hindering effective public participation include the resistance to public participation on the part of several public officials and planners, the lack of methodological knowledge to manage public participation procedures effectively, the lack of interest and passivity on the part of the public, the lack of trust between various stakeholders, and some recent negative trends in the development of civil society. It is concluded that although the existence of a legal framework, which allows for the possibility of public involvement, is a necessary precondition for comprehensive public participation, but it must be supplemented by other elements that facilitate public participation.

The European Water Framework Directive puts strong emphasis on stakeholder and public participation in water management. Several practical questions regarding who should be involved, why, when, and how still remain unanswered. This paper investigates stakeholders' own experiences and views of increased public participation in water management. The article also explores the potential for increasing levels of participation by forming catchment committees with representation from stakeholder groups and through the use of various practical methods for participation. For both these aspects of participation, the views, expectations, and apprehensions of different stakeholder groups involved in nutrient loss management are investigated. Stakeholder opinions were collected by inviting representatives from five stakeholder groups within the Rönneå catchment in southern Sweden to a catchment dialog process.

Water resources are under increased pressure in almost all parts of the world. In such circumstances, it is also common to have conflicts between different water sectors (for instance, tourism vs. environmental use; municipal and industrial supply vs. agricultural water use, etc.), and interest groups. In most cases, related problems could be efficiently solved through public participation and the involvement of stakeholders. Traditional public participation in water management is mostly focused on problem-solving, rather than on other important contexts such as: stakeholders’ understanding of the problem; motivation (willingness) to participate; preferences; understanding the solving methodology; and expectations that the participatory process will lead to the desired solution(s). An approach that has been proven to successfully take into account most of these concerns in managing water-related participatory problems is known as Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM). In this paper, the authors use GTM to analyse data collected within the previous study of stakeholders’ selection and prioritization in managing the water resources of the Krivaja River basin in Serbia. Extensive data sets include detailed information about stakeholders, a description of the catchment characteristics, and the perception of public participation provided by questionnaires distributed and collected within a six-month period. The results obtained by GTM show that there are more similarities with results obtained in developing countries in terms of the distinction between official and non-official attitudes and views, the objectives of PP and the justification for introducing PP.

If fresh waters are to be managed sustainably, and the potential to resolve conflicts of use realised, the general public must be more involved in their management. Participation in water management in England and Wales occurs at three levels, formal consultation, public involvement or actual direct participation by the public. Formal consultations often leave the public in the role of the ‘objector’ and ignore the ‘silent majority’, focusing on the more vociferous minority of the population. Public involvement is less formal and can take a variety of forms. Although not allowing the public to be directly involved in the decision‐making processes, it provides the public with the opportunity to comment upon plans for river works or the re‐development of a river location, or to indicate what they want from the rivers that flow through their own local area and which they use for recreation and amenity. True participation is where the public are actively involved in the decision‐making processes. Public participation at all three levels provides environmental education, however, personal experience promotes a greater environmental awareness and understanding by the public.There have been a number of educational initiatives aimed at schools in the United Kingdom which incorporate participation and education. Care of, and learning about, the natural environment is part of Key Stage 2 of the National Curriculum taught in all schools for eight‐ to twelve‐year‐old children.This paper reflects upon approaches to public participation and environmental education in the United Kingdom and provides examples of specific projects and campaigns involving both formal organizations and the general public.

Public participation in water management provides greater understanding of the challenges faced by a community and often leads to greater uptake of any new policies. Water management is a critical part of water security, and water management benefits from public participation. The objective of this research is to gain insight into the perceptions of water held by students at University of Calgary, and their beliefs about water management in Calgary. Focus groups were conducted with Engineering, Medical Science, Environmental Science, and Economics students of the University of Calgary. The focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The majority of the discussion was about decreasing Calgary’s current water consumption and ways to go about doing this. This included discussion about the price of water, the use of water-efficient technology, legal regulations, incentives, and increasing awareness about water issues. Each student group had some predominant discussion and ideas unique to their group, and similarities were found amongst the different programs, particularly between the Engineering and Environmental Science groups. The students considered water as primarily a natural resource and a public resource, and some groups also agreed that water is a human right. The ideas about water management indicate that the students wish to see water used more sustainably, however the groups debated different methods for introducing change based on what kind of intervention was thought to be the most effective. The perspectives of the students offered a range of ideas that could provide insight into future management.

Introduction: Social Participation in Water Management and Governance Part I: Participation and Indigenous Water Governance 1. Participation of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe in Land and Water Management Decisions in Death Valley National Park, California and Nevada, U.S. 2. For Whom the Turbines Turn: Indigenous Citizens as Legitimate Stakeholders in the Brazilian Amazon Part II: Participation and the Dynamics of Gender in Water Management 3. Gender and Participation in a Rural Water-Supply Organization in Rajasthan, India 4. Gendered Dynamics of Participation in Water Management in Nepal and Peru: Revisiting the Linkages between Membership and Power Part III: Participation and River Basin Governance 5. Social Participation in French Water Management: Contributions to River Basin Governance and New Challenges 6. Social Participation in Mexican River Basin Organizations: The Resilience of Coalitions 7. From a Participative Framework to Communities' Realities: The Challenges of Implementing Stakeholder Involvement in Quebec Watershed Management, Canada Part IV: Participation and Implementation of Water Management 8. Social Participation in the Irrigation Sector in Yunnan, China: Roles of the State, User Associations, and Communities 9. Participation in Water Resource and Service Governance in South Africa: Caught in the Acts 10. The Role of Locally-Managed Water Aid: Effective Partnerships in Sri Lanka 11. The Public's Role as Stakeholder in the Yarqon River Authority, Israel Part V: Participation and the Politics of Governance 12. Water Rights and Rule-Making Justice as Fruits of Social Struggle in the Ecuadorian Andes 13. Water Management Practices on Trial: The Tribunal Latinoameicano del Agua and the Creation of Public Space for Social Participation in Water Politics 14. The Local Application of Global Sustainable and Participatory Development Norms in Turkish Dams 15. Conclusions

This chapter examines public participation in water management in the Netherlands and the UK. The waterschap (water board), as it has evolved in the Netherlands, offers lessons as a stakeholder-based institution focused on water management. The Ribble pilot project in the UK sought to test public participation by experimenting with various forms of participation and identifying the lessons learned and usability in the water framework directive context.

In the early 1990s, Thailand launched an ambitious program of decentralized governance, conferring greater responsibilities upon sub-district administrations and providing fiscal opportunities for local development planning. This process was reinforced by Thailand's new Constitution of 1997, which explicitly assures individuals, communities and local authorities the right to participate in the management of natural resources. Drawing on a study of water management in the Mae Sa watershed, northern Thailand, this article analyzes to what extent the constitutional right of participation has been put into practice. To this end, a stakeholder analysis was conducted in the watershed, with a focus on local people's interests and strategies in water management and the transformation of participatory policies through government agencies at the local level. While government officers stressed the importance of stakeholder inclusion and cooperation with the local people, there is a sharp contrast between the official rhetoric and the reality on the ground. The analysis reveals that government officers, particularly in the conservation-oriented agencies, are not disposed to devolve power to lower levels and that participation of local people in water management seems currently to be passive or, at best, consultative in nature. In order to deal with the increasingly severe water problems in northern Thailand, decision makers have to recognize the value of participation and promote a profound change in government officers' attitudes towards local people through training programs and incentives.

The benefits of public participation in water management are recognized by governments, scholars, and stakeholders. These benefits, however, do not result from all engagement endeavors. This leads to the question: What are the determinants for effective public participation? Given a list of criteria for achieving the transformational capacity of participation, we analyze the benefits (including the influence on public policies) gained through public participation and the determinant factors for obtaining these benefits in the Ebro River Basin in Spain and in the Tucson Basin in Arizona (U.S.). Furthermore, and considering that droughts and floods are major water management challenges in both case studies, we focus on the potential of participation to build adaptive capacity. Our analysis of these case studies concludes that influence on public policies is determined more by the context of the participatory process, i.e., legal framework, political leadership, and social awareness, whereas influence on adaptive capacity building depends more on the characteristics of the participatory process, particularly the existence of active on-site consultation and deliberation.

From fragmentation to consolidation: An integrated approach for multidimensional analysis of water security in Langat River Basin, Malaysia

Despite many novelties in participation: participatory budgeting, citizens jury, deliberatice poll etc. the engagement of different stakeholders’ groups in the decision making processes concerning detailed planning issues (local spatial management plans, water management plans, the preservation management plans of the Natura 2000 sites) is usually based on the organization of open discussion meetings. The study looks at the social consultations regarding acceptance of local spatial management plans managed by Poznań City Hall and consultations concerning the preparation of water management plans managed by Regional Water Management Board in Poznań. The comparative analysis served to exhibit similarities and differences between the processes in terms of legal conditions, the organization of meetings, the length and the scale of the process and the actors engaged.

Cost-effectiveness of groundwater conservation measures: A multi-level analysis with policy implications

In the last three decades, Mexican water management policy has been reformed to include the participation of social actors in the decision-making process. Nonetheless, water governance receives intense criticism from those who consider that this participatory approach has decreased the efficiency in decision-making and others who believe that public participation is not efficiently included. To clarify this debate, we identify the fundamentals, the obstacles, and the challenges of the public involvement in water management through a systematic review of the literature. We found that the restrictions of such involvement are most likely associated with: 1) characteristics and context of the participants; 2) different levels of information and power; 3) institutional arrangement and rules of the process; 4) the lack of resources to participate, and 5) the lack of motivation and political will. The most critical challenges are: a) decentralization; b) the combination of technical and non-technical knowledge; c) the strengthening of capacities for participation, and d) the influence of the government in the decision-making process. With these elements, we elaborate an analytical framework and come up with the recommendations to improve public participation in water management in Mexico.