Learning together to manage together. Improving participation in water management
Résumé
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). The HarmoniCOP handbook is the result of an extensive participatory working process involving a multidisciplinary team of scientists, government officials, water managers, and stakeholders of different sectors. The methodology featured in the book is based on the concept of "social learning" advocating collaboration between the different stakeholders from the earliest moment possible. The target groups of the handbook broadly includes all actors involved in the practical implementation of the WFD, such as decision-makers, administrators, NGOs, water users etc. The handbook offers practical guidance to the development of participation processes that meet the actual needs of stakeholders and aims to serve as a reference book for the selection of adequate participatory methods. In the context of the handbook, public participation is understood as a continuously ongoing process.