Visioning is dreaming with stakeholders, exploring the future, prepared to think the unthinkable, in a strategic conversation which not only yields a perspective ...
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NEGOTIATE Toolkit: Case Studies
Visioning on the future of the rivers Scheldt and Waal By Jeroen Warner 1
Visioning is dreaming with stakeholders, exploring the future, prepared to think the unthinkable, in a strategic conversation which not only yields a perspective for the future but also helps participants to put themselves in each other’s shoes and to recognise and reconcile conflicting interests. Building a vision challenges participants to be creative in overcoming deadlocks caused by diametrically opposed objectives. Why vision? Because too often stakeholders play games in multi-level networks, driven by selfinterest and a desire to maintain autonomy. A lack of political commitment to a shared long term vision on sustainable development can hinder progress more than historic distrust, language barriers and cultural differences. To arrive at truly integrated management, it is often better to start with the future and think backwards (backcast) on how to get there, than to start with the present, where vested interests and entrenched perspectives may obscure a clear view (cf. Mitchell 2002). At the Second World Water Forum in the Hague, the World Water Council stressed the need for systematic, strategic visioning for water management, involving citizens and especially youth. Key elements of a visioning process are: • A participatory problem definition • A thorough system analysis • Scenario development (Ruijgh-van der Ploeg and Verhallen 2002). There is a rich US literature on community visioning. There are also several interesting European visioning initiatives in water management. This case focuses on three visioning processes used in the rivers Scheldt (Escault) and Waal.
1. Background The Scheldt runs from France via Wallonia and Flanders to the Southwest Netherlands. On the French side, industrial pollution compromises water quality, while economic development is poor after mine closure. In Flanders, erosion, sedimentation and loss of ecological diversity are challenges. Interbasin water transfers require better coordination between the French and Belgian governments. Holland and Belgium similarly need to coordinate as the Flemish want to deepen the channel in the estuary to improve shipping access to and from the large harbour of Antwerp, while the Dutch want a safe channel and to preserve natural estuarine values. To tackle these issues, visioning processes were initiated between universities from France, Flanders and the Netherlands, while policymakers from the latter two riparians developed a vision at the policy level.
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Annemiek Verhallen, Madelinde Winnubst and Gabi Steentjes are thanked for their help.
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2. Visioning processes
2.1
River 21 – Engaging Youth
The World Water Council places special hope on young people to shape the future. This challenge is picked up in the form of River 21, an annual three-week process involving advanced MSc students of environmental sciences from five universities in Holland, Flanders and France, held at Antwerp University. To get good systems knowledge, it involves field trips from source to estuary, in which 20-25 students in two teams gather technical information, talk to stakeholders and soak up first-hand impressions. Visioning is a new experience for many, and especially for hydrology and engineering students, who unlike architects and industrial designers, are not used to ‘dreaming’. Narration rather than numbers and feedback to and from stakeholders proved key to the process. Policy-makers and civil servants, also not accustomed to dreaming, appreciate that students bring in different perspectives and issues.
Ideas of the vision-building team members Preparation in national teams Excursion through entire river basin Problem analysis Systems analysis
1 week
A shared framework of reference
Possible futures
Design of desirable future
Desirable futures for 4 aspects
Writing and presentation
consulatation 1 day
Shared goals for 4 aspects of water management
Identification of driving forces
Negotiation
3 days Expert
1 day
1 day Expert consulatation
1 shared vision Dissemination and debate
2 day
1 day Stakeholder
3 days
consulatation
Figure 1. The River 21 concept (in: Ruijgh-van der Ploeg & Verhallen, 2002)
After the process was tried and refined in the heldt basin, it was partly replicated in the Tisza river basin (shared by Romania, Ukraine, Hungary and Yugoslavia) in 2002, and it looks like it will be applied in the Ukraine facilitated by Wageningen University and Moscow University. The original idea of River 21 was also to involve young professionals in a kind of ‘buddy system’ in which a policymaker teams up with a student, to generate fresh ideas. While this concept generates great enthusiasm with some policymakers, others remain wary.
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2.2
Developing a Long -Term Vision with Policymakers
At the policy level, a separate visioning process has been developed, the LTV (Long Term Vision) for the estuary of the river Scheldt (Westerschelde) for 2030. It was thought to be a good way to operationalise the then brand new European Framework Directive of 2000, which encourages information sharing, learning and participation. The vision was realised by civil servants from Flanders and the Netherlands without involvement from the political sector, to avoid politicking at an early stage. Scenarios were developed for key aspects, such as different degrees of deepening the river. The vision recommended balanced development based on five pillars: security (from floods and chemical accidents), natural values, accessibility (for transport), recreation and fisheries. The key issue was that the Flemish wanted to deepen the harbour while the Dutch wanted the loss of natural values in an ecologically important estuary to be compensated for by ‘nature development’. At the time of the exercise, the Green party was represented in the ruling coalition in Flanders, so the Dutch wish was received with great sympathy. After the LTV was presented, a platform of Dutch and Flemish public, private and civil-society stakeholders started an extensive process to work out an implementation plan - the Overleg Adviserende Partijen (OAP). Strikingly fisheries and recreation were absent in this Multi Stakeholder process, and the politically powerful agricultural sector was not represented in the early stages. The latter group became a powerful ‘veto actor’ as their support was needed to realise the nature development goals. When farmers were given a place at the table, they demanded special privileges in the process. While these were denied, the farming representatives managed to gain many economic concessions. The issue split the Dutch side while, as the Greens had meanwhile lost their position in government, the political balance was also shifting. It stands to reason that an earlier acknowledgment of the key position of farmers would have saved much time and frustration.
2.3
Municipal visioning for the Waal river
A final example concerns the Waalvisie, a visioning process on the Dutch rivier Waal, an important shipping node which takes off from the Rhine between Nijmegen and Tiel. The municipalities, most of which are quite small, seek to develop an intermunicipal collaborative approach to developing the scenic floodplain in a sustainable way, to make the river front both safer and more attractive. The cost of this can be borne by innovative development. Until recently, the floodplain was the territory of the Public Works department, and municipalities would plan right up to the embankment. Now however, central government only allows floodplain development provided security measures are built-in – ranging from water detention basins to submersible parking lots and amphibious houses, which are highly profitable. In this context, the riparian municipality of Beuningen initiated a visioning process in collaboration with the Centre for the Sustainable Management of Resources, Nijmegen University through a European funded project, Freude am Fluss. After an extensive public questionnaire, seven citizens signed on to visioning, and in several sessions came up with exciting new initiatives for the future. Then, silence. While public servants had been engaged in the process, political decision-makers had not, they seemed skeptical and far from eager to take up the results of the dreaming sessions. The process seemed to be stuck in a rut. However, recently an opportunity for a new European project arose which, if granted, would bring in 450,000 euro. At the next Waal meeting, Beuningen’s politicians sprung into action, the mayor even showed pictures he took himself.
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3. Lessons learned Visioning literature stresses that an inclusive, deliberative process is more important than a welldefined outcome. However, we find that visioning is most satisfactory when a strong link with implementation is made, which is often lacking. On the Waal, the commitment of decision-makers to the vision has been lacking; on the Scheldt, some key actors were not involved early enough in the process. It is therefore key to start thinking about the who and how of implementing a vision even in the early stages of imagination, so as not to promise people the world only to disappoint them later. Political power and financial support also need to be ensured early on. People are more likely to accept that not everything can be made into reality when the process and its follow-up are well communicated with stakeholders. A related issue is to ensure an adequate feedback mechanism between the active participants in the visioning process and the non-active stakeholders, so as to keep them informed of the process.
References Mitchell, B. (2002). Resource and environmental management, Longman. Ruijgh – van der Ploeg, T. and Verhallen, AJM (2002), Envisioning the future of transboundary basins, With case studies from the river Scheldt basin, Technical University, Delft and Wagneingen University. Van der Heijden, K. (1996). Scenarios. The art of strategic conversation. Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
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