Aligning Commitments: Public Participation, International Decision-Making, and the Environment

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Crescencia Maurer ◽  
Suzanne Ehlers ◽  
Andrew Buchman
Water Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-640
Author(s):  
D. D. Costa e Silva ◽  
H. M. L. Chaves ◽  
W. F. Curi ◽  
J. G. V. Baracuhy ◽  
T. P. S. Cunha

Abstract The current worldwide water resources issue is one of the crucial matters to overcome obstacles to sustainable development. This problem, formerly tackled in a sectored manner, is now pointing towards an analysis directed to treating the watershed as a management unit, with regards to all dimensions of knowledge and, especially, to the public participation in the decision-making processes. As an alternative to measure its performance, it has been sought out to develop indexes aimed to measure its sustainability, but there is still a lack of the use of composed efficient methodologies that also enable public participation in decision-making. This research presents a methodology comprising 15 indexes for the calculation of the Watershed Sustainability Index (WSI), followed by the application of the PROMETHEE multi-criteria analysis method and the COPELAND multi-decision-maker method. The methodology was applied to evaluate the performance of subwatersheds of the Piranhas-Açu watershed, located in the Brazilian northeast semi-arid region. The performance ordering, obtained through the application of the methods, emphasizes that subwatersheds' performances are uneven. It can be noticed that the subwatersheds' performances are still far from ideal in relation to water resources management, even in the ones that displayed satisfactory index levels.


2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 1001-1018
Author(s):  
Patrick Robardet ◽  
Daniel Mockle ◽  
John Clifford ◽  
Mario Bouchard

The authors comment on the capacity of the law to resolve problems concerning public participation in energy questions. Problems of clarity of language and consensus about objects arise in most public debates about energy. Although a particular public participation exercise may be intended to treat issues related to one policy level, questions invariably arise concerning other policy levels, be they strategic or operational. Ideally, the timing of public debate should be determined in function of the ends such debates are expected to serve, but this is difficult because of the diverse functions to be served by participation. As well, the exercise is less clear because of problems of access to and manipulation of information. Nevertheless, impartial decision-making is still perceived as leading to the best results, although the inherent limits of public participation are recognized. In the final analysis, the problems posed by public participation are not ones the law, which is contentious in orientation, can remedy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-404
Author(s):  
Maurice S. Nyarangaa ◽  
Chen Hao ◽  
Duncan O. Hongo

Public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of governance by involving citizens in governance policy formulation and decision-making processes. It was designed to promote transparency, accountability and effectiveness of any modern government. Although Kenya has legally adopted public participation in day-to-day government activities, challenges still cripple its effectiveness as documented by several scholars. Instead of reducing conflicts between the government and the public, it has heightened witnessing so many petitions of government missing on priorities in terms of development and government policies. Results show that participation weakly relates with governance hence frictions sustainable development. Theoretically, public participation influences governance efficiency and development, directly and indirectly, thus sustainable development policy and implementation depends on Public participation and good governance. However, an effective public participation in governance is has been fractioned by the government. Instead of being a promoter/sponsor of public participation, the government of Kenya has failed to put structures that would spur participation of citizens in policy making and other days to activities. This has brought about wrong priority setting and misappropriation of public resources; The government officials and political class interference ultimately limit public opinion and input effects on decision-making and policy formulation, which might be an inner factor determining the failure of public participation in Kenya. The study suggests the need for strengthening public participation by establishing an independent institution to preside over public participation processes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document