Focus Groups, Citizens

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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
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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.

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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.

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Overview of innovative public involvement tools

• Focus Group interviews
• Citizens Juries
• Open Space method

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Focus groups and citizens juries tested inEU
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

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Focus groups

• 48 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

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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?

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Interviews
Spring 2003 in Emajõgi River Basin with
stakeholders focused on

• Schoolchildren
• Community activists
• Water tourism entrepreneurs
• Fishermen
• Farmers
• Summer cottage owners
• Local government officials
• Representatives of water sport club
• Environmental NGOS

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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

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Focus groups findings

• Awareness of the risks is a precondition for
  interest in participation in solving
  environmental problems
• Lack of information and relevant experiences
  furthers opposition among stakeholders
• Water information in hard to understand and for
  common people
• Water 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 evoke
  diverse understandings and building public
  awareness

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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

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YES or NO for the water tourism development on
Emajõgi River
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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
  dealing with River Emajõgi WM issues

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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 states partners

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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

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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

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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 states partners

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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 !

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For more information

• www.ctc.ee
• www.riverdialogue.org
• E-mail kati.kangur_at_ctc.ee
• Thank You !