Public participation in River Basin Management Planning
The HARMONICOP project examined a fresh approach to River Basin Management Planning (RBMP) emphasising Public Participation (PP). The research, undertaken by a consortium of fifteen universities, research institutes and laboratories, focused on the role of Social Learning (SL). The Autonomous University of Barcelona was assigned the task of compiling a final report summarising the findings of the project. They attempt to establish a relationship between the theoretical concepts developed during the research and actual data derived from several case studies. The report begins with an introduction to SL and how it interfaces with RBMP. Actions at local, regional, national and river basin scales are assessed. An important part of the report's contents is the feedback gathered from a comprehensive review of case studies. Special attention was paid to the benefits achieved with the aid of Information and Communications Tools. Finally, the new knowledge acquired in the context of HARMONICOP was recorded. The input includes: lessons learned from the case studies, potential obstacles (e.g. cultural differences), new learning paradigms and so on. The report's authors believe that longstanding perceptions of man's relationship with nature, information exchange, etc. must be overturned in order for progress to be made. While cost remains a significant constraint in RBMP, the recommendation is for investment in public education. Future research will analyse the most effective way to go about making such investments.
