scholarly journals Unfolding the Water Framework Directive Implementation at the River Basin District Scale: An Italian Case Study on Irrigation Measures

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pellegrini ◽  
Bortolini ◽  
Defrancesco
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Coordination Mechanisms ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
River Basin District ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Despite that the European Water Framework Directive has attracted scholars’ attention worldwide, research is sparse on how its implementation is carried out for the whole River Basin District (RBD). This paper aims to fill this research gap by studying the implementation of this directive in the Italian Eastern Alps RBD. Based on 21 semi-structured interviews with both public authorities and the stakeholders engaged with implementation, along with a document analysis, we traced the overall implementation process, from planning to implementation, of measures to increase irrigation efficiency. Our interest was on how coordination mechanisms for the entire RBD were established during the main steps of the implementation process. Moreover, we looked at the effects of the Water Framework Directive at the local level, both in terms of changes in irrigation management practices and in terms of stakeholders’ engagement in decision-making processes. We found that, establishing decision-making processes based on a stronger coordination among all the authorities involved was fundamental both in terms of the production of shared decisions and of the participants’ satisfaction with the processes. Moreover, if true participation of stakeholders has to be achieved in the decision-making processes, then the RBD could not be the only scale where participation takes place. Actually, interactions among stakeholders and public authorities, in order to consider local interests in the decision-making processes, could be more effective at the sub-RBD level Ultimately, while cross-administrative coordination can be achieved for the whole RBD through specific coordination mechanisms, public participation should find more appropriate spaces at the sub-RBD level.

scholarly journals Coordination and Participation Boards under the European Water Framework Directive: Different Approaches Used in Some EU Countries

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilia Pellegrini ◽  
Lucia Bortolini ◽  
Edi Defrancesco
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Water Framework Directive ◽  
River Basin ◽  
District Level ◽  
European Water Framework Directive ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
European Water ◽  
River Basin District ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
River Basin Planning

River basin planning under the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60/CE, WFD) poses two major challenges to EU countries: coordination among administrative units for large-scale river basin planning and the inclusion of interested parties in decision-making processes. To face both challenges, many Member States have established Coordination and Participation Boards at the River Basin District or river basin level. These boards can be defined as multi-agency and multi-actor groups that support the development of inclusive and coordinated river basin planning to comply with the WFD requirements. The aim of this paper is to understand the functioning and effectiveness of the coordination and participation boards in promoting participatory river basin planning in seven EU countries. We built a conceptual framework, based on spatial fit, coordination capacity and participatory governance theories, to assess the scale at which these boards are established as well as the type of coordination and participation they support. The results indicate the relevance of the sub-River Basin District level to promote participatory decision-making. However, a clear linkage between participatory processes conducted at the sub-district level and decision-making processes at River Basin District should be established. Only if this link is well established are the outcomes achieved through the coordination and participation boards included in river basin plans. Moreover, we identified a lack of knowledge on how planning and implementation activities carried out at sub-River Basin District are aggregated and coordinated for the entire District. Research could contribute to this issue, by focusing on coordination mechanisms and problems that occur at the River Basin District level.

scholarly journals Advancing Relevance, Credibility, Legitimacy, and Effectiveness as a Heuristic for Local-Parallel Scenarios

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Cradock-Henry ◽  
Bob Frame
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Scenario Development ◽  
Personal Time ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Competing Priorities

The parallel scenario process provides a framework for developing plausible scenarios of future conditions. Combining greenhouse gas emissions, social and economic trends, and policy responses, it enables researchers and policy makers to consider global-scale interactions, impacts and implications of climate change. Increasingly, researchers are developing extended scenarios, based on this framework, and incorporating them into adaptation planning and decision-making processes at the local level. To enable the identification of possible impacts and assess vulnerability, these local-parallel scenarios must successfully accommodate diverse knowledge systems, multiple values, and competing priorities including both “top down” modeling and “bottom-up” participatory processes. They must link across scales, to account for the ways in which global changes affect and influence decision-making in local places. Due to the growing use of scenarios, there is value in assessing these developments using criteria or, more specifically, heuristics that may be implicitly acknowledged rather than formally monitored and evaluated. In this Perspective, we reflect on various contributions regarding the value of heuristics and propose the adoption of current definitions for Relevance, Credibility, and Legitimacy for guiding local scenario development as the most useful as well as using Effectiveness for evaluation purposes. We summarize the internal trade-offs (personal time, clarity-complexity, speed-quality, push-pull) and the external stressors (equity and the role of science in society) that influence the extent to which heuristics are used as “rules of thumb,” rather than formal assessment. These heuristics may help refine the process of extending the parallel scenario framework to the local and enable cross-case comparisons.

scholarly journals Local Development and Protection of Nature in Coastal Zones: A Planning Study for the Sulcis Area (Sardinia, Italy)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5095 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Leone ◽  
Corrado Zoppi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Coastal Ecosystems ◽  
Integrated Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Zone Management ◽  
Decision Making Processes

In 2008, the Council of the European Union adopted the “Protocol on Integrated Coastal Zone Management” (ICZM Protocol), then ratified by Decision No. 2010/631/EU. The ICZM Protocol defines integrated coastal zone management as a dynamic and flexible process that accounts for the relations between coastal ecosystems and landscape as well as the activities and the uses that characterize coastal areas. Integrated management of coastal zones is still a critical process in terms of translating theory into practice. In this theoretical framework, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) helps to improve decision-making processes related to coastal spatial planning by integrating development goals and sustainability criteria. This study proposes a methodological approach concerning ICZM-based decision-making processes at the local level. The methodology is implemented in relation to three case studies concerning three towns located in southwest Sardinia. The results show a general consistency between the analyzed plans in terms of objectives and themes. Three specific issues are particularly relevant in terms of integration of economic and social objectives and sustainability goals, that is, relations between beach services and coastal ecosystems, protection of coastal ecosystems, and accessibility to the coastal zones.

Territorial Changes to Municipalities and Inter-Municipal Cooperation: A Comparative Overview and Orientations for Slovenia

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iztok Rakar ◽  
Bojan Tičar ◽  
Maja Klun
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Public Decision

Local self-government has faced a number of challenges over the past decade. The financial crisis has revealed new dimensions of the eternal question of financing self-governing local communities, while distrust and a lack of interest in participation in local democracy among the people have led to considerations of different approaches to public decision-making concerning local issues. A comparative overview shows that the question of the “perfect size” of municipalities is currently very relevant and aimed at finding dimensions that would enable the municipality to ensure both local-level democracy and identity and economic efficiency in the delivery of public services. The most popular tool for achieving this goal is the merger of municipalities, although other approaches also exist, including various forms of inter-municipal cooperation. Some forms of inter-municipal cooperation have already taken firm hold in Slovenia, although the question of the potential impacts of alternative forms of inter-municipal cooperation on the democratic legitimacy of decision-making processes and the potential of these processes for the developmental breakthrough of Slovenian municipalities has yet to receive adequate attention.

Resisting Displacement amid Armed Conflict: Community-Level Conditions that Make People More Likely to Stay

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 68-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Krakowski
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Collective Decision ◽  
Collective Decision Making ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Dual Effect ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Game Theoretic

The paper examines conditions under which communities threatened by armed groups amid the Colombian civil war are most likely to resist displacement. Using a game-theoretic framework and quantitative data, the paper shows that the threatened communities which expect rescue from an armed actor are more likely to resist displacement than those communities which expect no help. Community cohesion has a dual effect on displacement. The amount of peer support among community members reduces their chances to resist displacement, but the extent to which community members are involved in collective decision-making processes makes them less likely to displace. These findings reveal that both displaced communities and those that resisted displacement possess crucial social resources for their post-conflict recovery and development, such as cohesion and strong bonds of solidarity. The paper stresses the importance of local-level organisation coordinating collective decision-making to guarantee the most efficient use of these resources.

scholarly journals Resource allocation and health technology assessment in Australia: Views from the local level

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (02) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisselle Gallego ◽  
Kees van Gool ◽  
Dianne Kelleher
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Decision Making Processes

Objectives:Several studies have shown that a key determinant of successful health technology assessment (HTA) uptake is a clear, fair, and consistent decision-making process for the approval and introduction of health technologies. The aim of this study was to gauge healthcare providers' and managers' perceptions of local level decision making and determine whether these processes offer a conducive environment for HTA. An Area Health Service (AHS) aimed to use the results of this study to help design a new process of technology assessment and decision making.Methods:An online survey was sent to all health service managers and healthcare providers working in one AHS in Sydney, Australia. Questions related to perceptions of current health technology decisions in participants' own institution/facility and opinions on key criteria for successful decision-making processes.Results:Less than a third of participants agreed with the statements that local decision-making processes were appropriate, easy to understand, evidence-based, fair, or consistently applied. Decisions were reportedly largely influenced by total cost considerations as well as by the central state health departments and the Area executive.Conclusions:Although there are renewed initiatives in HTA in Australia, there is a risk that such investments will not be productive unless policy makers also examine the decision-making contexts within which HTA can successfully be implemented. The results of this survey show that this is especially true at the local level and that any HTA initiative should be accompanied by efforts to improve decision-making processes.

E-Governance and Development

2011 ◽  
pp. 98-108
Author(s):  
Raul Zambrano
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Communications Technology ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
Governance Process ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Basic Services

This article provides a quick assessment of current e-governance policies and programmes to then suggest an alternative approach to the issue of the use information and communications technology in governance process. By focusing on citizens and stakeholders needs and fostering their participation in decision-making processes, governments can be best prepared to provide them with basic services and information, especially to poor and marginalized areas excluded from the potential benefits of egovernance. Pro-poor basic delivery in turn has the potential of fostering stakeholder engagement in public policy discussions at the local level.

Towards a network model? Reflections on regional social and health models of governance

2012 ◽  
pp. 113-125
Author(s):  
Michele Marzulli
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Long Period ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Standard Procedures ◽  
Decision Making Processes

The goal of this paper is to determine the prevalent governance model in regional social and health systems, in the Italian setting. At the end of a long period of institutional reforms, it appears indeed that a model of regulation is emerging based on networks and on the participation of the citizens. However, in analysing standard procedures, one observes the persistence of ordered hierarchies and bureaucracies, in which public institutions are at the centre of decision-making processes, whether on the local level or centralized. This is particularly visible if one analyses the management of financial resources that are meant to support policies.

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