Objective: Aimed at identifying most effective participatory approach in the river basin management plan design.

1. Focus Groups, Citizens’ Juries
and Open Space method:
Innovative tools of public
involvement in water management
Kati Kangur
Peipsi Center for Transboundary Cooperation
Estonia
9th June, St. Petersburg

3. Rationale behind involving stakeholders
in decision-making
 Increase the public awareness and acceptance of the
problems in water management and measures that need to
be taken for solution
 Enrich QUALITY OF DECISIONS with relevant viewpoints and
local information about the water issue that could not have
been generated otherwise.
 Widen the RESPONSIBILITY for the decisions made and
actions taken as stakeholders are drawn into the deliberation
about the problems that need to be solved and so become co-
responsible for the decisions that are made and actions that
are taken.

4. Preconditions for effective public
involvement
 Widespread recognition of its value
 Political will to implement the deliberated
decisions, economical feasibility
 Practical guidance and capacity to involve
citizens and their recommendations in policy
design.
The analyses of the public participation results provide a starting
point for the integrated water management strategies including
the awareness building and public action fostering.

5. Overview of innovative public
involvement tools:
• Focus Group interviews
• Citizens’ Juries
• Open Space method

6. Focus groups and citizens’ juries tested in
EU 5th FP funded
RIVER DIALOGUE project: “Empowerment
and Awareness Building in River Basin
Management Through Focus Groups and
Citizens Juries”
 Aimed at identifying most effective
participatory approach in the river basin
management plan design

7. Focus groups
 4–8 members in a group discussion on certain
issue
 In a free atmosphere participants exchange their
points of views and experiences building each
other awareness and acceptance of others
perspectives
 Reach common understanding of the problem
 Source of information on uncovered topics

8. Example: Mapping stakeholders needs in
Emajõgi River Basin
 How are environmental risks perceived?
 Sources of environmental information?
 Interest towards water management?
 Possibilities for influencing environmental
policy-making?

9. Interviews
 Schoolchildren
 Community activists
 Water tourism entrepreneurs
 Fishermen
 Farmers
 Summer cottage owners
 Local government officials
 Representatives of water sport club
 Environmental NGOS
Spring 2003 in Emajõgi River Basin with
stakeholders focused on :

11. Participants perception of the experience
Majority of participants’ expectations were fulfilled:
 Got to say out their opinion
 Exchange of information and experiences on water
management
 Pleasant to discuss together issues that otherwise are
not talked about

12. Focus groups findings
 Awareness of the risks is a precondition for interest in
participation in solving environmental problems
 Lack of information and relevant experiences furthersLack of information and relevant experiences furthers
opposition among stakeholdersopposition among stakeholders
 Water information in hard to understand and for common
people
 Water management earns too little public attentionWater management earns too little public attention
 WM is dominated by out of local context environmental
protection and EU bureaucracy standards
 Focus groups is an efficient method to evokeFocus groups is an efficient method to evoke
diverse understandings and building publicdiverse understandings and building public
awarenessawareness

13. Citizens’ juries
 A group of representatives of the
community comes together to carefully
deliberate on the problem significant to the
community.
 Panel members hear expert opinions give
their suggestions for the solution.
 The decision made by the panel will be
delivered to the policy-makers and for
implementation

14. YES or NO for the water tourism
development on Emajõgi River

15. Conducting Citizens’ Jury
• Jury members: inhabitants of Puhja and Rannu municipalities
• Presentations of witnesses from different sectors:
river port, nature reserve, NGO, engineer, businessman
• Enabled participants to get to know different perspectives on the
development of Emajõgi region
• Gives participants possibility to utter their opinion on issue at stake
• Gives information on the public perceptions of the problems and value
orientations, needs and interests
• At the end of the day Jury compiled their
recommendations
• Report was sent to state and local authorities dealingReport was sent to state and local authorities dealing
with River Emajõgi WM issueswith River Emajõgi WM issues

16. YES or NO for the water tourism
development on Emajõgi River
• Water Association lead
by Min. of Environment,
focal point of public
involvement in river basin
management plans
design
• Estonian Civil Society
Development Act (2003)
– support for the NGOs
and local civil actions
• Increasing activeness
and acknowledgement of
NGOs as state’s partners

17. Open Space Method –
tested in frames of GEF project of Lake Peipsi-
Chudskoe Basin Management plan
• MIN. MODERATION & MAX CITIZENS’ INPUT
• Participants are free to raise a problem of
discussion
• Choose a group of discussion to contribute to
• Jointly evaluate the significnace of the problem
• Compose a strategy for the problem solution

18. Future of Environmental Education
in Lake Peipsi basin?
• Discussion groups on: teachers’ capacity,
state support, media coverage, tehnical means
for water education education etc.
• Example of following concrete action:
Contribution to Min.o.Environment and
Min.o.Education strategy on outdoors
environmental education development

19. YES or NO for the water tourism
development on Emajõgi River
• Water Association lead
by Min. of Environment,
focal point of public
involvement in river basin
management plans
design
• Estonian Civil Society
Development Act (2003)
– support for the NGOs
and local civil actions
• Increasing activeness
and acknowledgement of
NGOs as state’s partners

20. Lessons Learned
Citizens’ juries, focus groups and open space
methods:
• Enable participants to get to know different perspectives
on a challenge in water management
• Give information on the public perceptions of the
problems and value orientations, needs and interests
• Promote political dialogue aimed at mutual
understanding: not aiming at complete agreements, but
rather that they try to resolve conflicts by finding an
acceptable solution
• After careful careful consideration also ordinary
people are able to discuss complex water
management issues !

21. For more information:
• www.ctc.ee
• www.riverdialogue.org
• E-mail: kati.kangur@ctc.ee
Thank You !