Public Participation in European River Basin Management

Lessons from the HarmoniCOP project

Publication: Policy Brief
Citation: Kranz, Nicole; Dagmar Ridder and Mita Patel 2006: Public Participation in European River Basin Management - Lessons from the HarmoniCOP project. Ecologic Briefs on International Relations and Sustainable Development. R. Andreas Kraemer and Sascha Müller-Kraenner. Berlin: Ecologic - Institute for International and European Environmental Policy.

This Ecologic Brief gives an overview of the main results and policy implications of the HarmoniCOP project. HarmoniCOP provides a comprehensive knowledge base for public participation in water management. Centred around the concept of social learning, the project draws lessons from past approaches to public participation in EU Member States and gains insights from case studies conducted in nine European river basins. The Ecologic Brief is available for download.

Public Participation in River Basin Management in Germany

"From borders to natural boundaries"

Year 2003

Publication:Case Study

Ecologic Institute supported the Institute for Environmental Systems Research at the University of Osnabrück in conducting a real-time case study in the Elbe basin. The main research focus of this study was the interplay of authorities and the various interest groups. The study is available for download.

Public Participation in the Elbe Basin

Case study report produced under Work Package 5

Year 2004

Publication:Article

Finding a place for public participation in the policies and practices of European river basin management planning is a challenge for the authorities in the participating countries and territories. Understanding the relationship between national culture, the historical and political differences in the respective countries, and their practical experience with participation is considered important in the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive. Knowledge and understanding of this relationship will help to provide a context and basis from which new participatory practices can be designed and experiences evaluated, and will also facilitate the identification of conditions necessary for social learning.

Cultural Factors as Co-Determinants of Participation in River Basin Management

Year 2007

Publication:Book

The printed edition of the handbook "Learning together to manage together – improving participation in water management" was published in January 2006. Ecologic actively contributed to the development of the handbook, which is one of the main outputs of the European project Harmonising Collaborative Planning (HarmoniCOP).

Learning Together to Manage Together

Improving Participation in Water Management

Year 2005

Project:FP 5

The main objective of the HarmoniCOP (project duration 2002 – 2005) project, which was funded under the 5th European framework for Research, was to increase the understanding of participatory river basin management in Europe. It caters to the paradigm that river basin management can only be effective and sustainable if the actors at each level and in each phase and sector become engaged in a social learning process.

Public Participation and the European Water Framework Directive (HarmoniCOP)

Oct 2002 - Aug 2005

Language

English

Authorship

Dr. Nicole Kranz

Dagmar Ridder

Mita Patel

Published by

Ecologic Institute, Germany

Year

2006

Dimension

24 pp.

ISBN

3-937085-18-1

ISSN

1611-4787

Project

Public Participation and the European Water Framework Directive (HarmoniCOP)

Project ID

Table of contents

Click to show full table of contents

Keywords

Water

Water Framework Directive, WFD, public participation, PP, water governance, consultation, information, active involvement, river basin management, social learning, good practice, case study, Ribble, Meuse, Elbe, Dordogne, Guadiana, Rhone, Danube,

Europe

Further Links

ProjectFP 5Public Participation and the European Water Framework Directive (HarmoniCOP)

The Water Framework Directive restructures the legislative frame for the protection of European water bodies and establishes new approaches to an integrated and comprehensive management of river basins. Part of these novel approaches is the explicit requirement for an... Read more

Public Participation and the European Water Framework Directive (HarmoniCOP)

Duration: Oct 2002 - Aug 2005
Funding: European Commission, Directorate-General Research (DG Research), International

PublicationBookLearning Together to Manage Together

Cernesson, F. et al. 2005: Learning Together to Manage Together - Improving Participation in Water Management]. Osnabrück: University of Osnabrück, Institute of Environmental Systems Research.

PublicationReportPublic Participation in River Basin Management in Germany

Kampa, Eleftheria; Nicole Kranz and Wenke Hansen 2003: Public Participation in River Basin Management in Germany. From Borders to Natural Boundaries (HarmoniCOP/WP 4). Ecologic - Institute for International and European Environmental Policy, Berlin.

PublicationCase StudyPublic Participation in the Elbe Basin

Borowski, Ilke; Nicole Kranz; Eleftheria Kampa and Antje Vorwerk 2004: Public Participation in the Elbe Basin. Case study report pruduced under Work Package 5 of the HarmoniCOP project. Institute for Environmental Systems Research - University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück.