Perspectives on water bodies; Dynamics and adaptation as a requisite for dealing with the complexity of multiple perspectives in water management. Annual conference of the Royal Geographers Society, London, 31 augustus 2006
Gerrits, L.-M.; Ellen, G.J.; Noppe, R.M. (2006). Perspectives on water bodies; Dynamics and adaptation as a requisite for dealing with the complexity of multiple perspectives in water management. Annual conference of the Royal Geographers Society, London, 31 augustus 2006. Royal Geographical Society: [s.l.]. 13 pp.
In the quest for sustainable water management, it is often difficult to balance economical, social and ecological demands. This paper addresses this issue by discussing the difficulties that arise in attempting to identify competing claims at the actor level, and by asking how these competing claims affect the process of incorporating long-term perspectives into actual policy processes. The authors have used the concept of perspectives or frames to address the above questions, within the context of two Dutch water management projects : the first in the Western Scheldt Estuary and the second in Rijnland, a polder network in the west of the Netherlands. Actor level perspectives were sought and an analysis was carried out to find out what this would mean for the water management approaches adopted in each of these regions. From the results of this study, the authors come to the following three conclusions. First, actors involved in water management projects should be aware that while the goal of their project might seem very legitimate from one perspective, it can go against the priorities of actors holding another perspective and this clash can have significant impact on the processes and outcomes of the project. Secondly, the fact that the perspectives and visions of the stakeholders can not be known beforehand means that the process manager should show a high level of flexibility and adapt to the dynamic process. . Thirdly, the way that plans to meet project goals are designed have important impact on the outcome of efforts to reach a mutual decision and stakeholders should have ample opportunity to give their input during this process.
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