Abstract
Substantive stakeholder engagement is increasingly recognized as essential for effective water resource development. Infrastructure development projects and strategies are however typically designed by engineers first before initiating discussions about impacts with stakeholders. In altering this sequence, designing meaningful participatory planning processes needs careful attention. This requires an innovative approach taking into account the institutional and discursive structure of the negotiation arena. This study uses eight features of participation and related micro-politics questions to scrutinize the design process of two water resource development projects in Thailand. The research shows that in one case some of the affected stakeholders were excluded, and in the other case, a lack of trust made one village obstruct the design process from the start. In both cases, the capacity to facilitate the negotiation about alternative designs and compensation was deficient. It is concluded that participation should be institutionalized and facilitated in a way that fosters accountable representation by all stakeholders, builds trust, and recognizes stakeholder interests and knowledge. The approach taken helps to understand the outcomes of the planning process and is useful to design planning processes that foster the accountable representation of all stakeholders and the recognition of their interests and knowledge.
Highlights
Governments have faced opposition to many water resource development projects they proposed to mitigate the problems of water scarcity, flooding, and seawater intrusion
Struggles surrounding water resource interventions have been explained by various authors, especially focusing on opposition by the affected people [1,2,3]
Studying stakeholders’ perspectives in the planning process prior to designing interventions can be useful in promoting sustainable development [6]
Summary
Governments have faced opposition to many water resource development projects they proposed to mitigate the problems of water scarcity, flooding, and seawater intrusion.Struggles surrounding water resource interventions have been explained by various authors, especially focusing on opposition by the affected people [1,2,3]. Governments have faced opposition to many water resource development projects they proposed to mitigate the problems of water scarcity, flooding, and seawater intrusion. Many large dam construction projects lack institutionalized processes of negotiation with all affected stakeholders [4]. Participation in decision-making by all stakeholders may assist to set key problems, enhance legitimacy, respond to demand, negotiate interests, incorporate local knowledge, and compromise conflicts [5]. Opportunities for participation may not match the stakeholders’ needs and interests [7]. Governance processes may limit opportunities for participation from an early stage [8]. Institutionalized forms of representation and negotiated decision-making need to be implemented to increase opportunities for community engagement [9]
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