Participation in Flood Risk Management and the Potential of Citizen Observatories: a Governance Analysis (PAP014829)

Código

PAP014829

Autores

Uta Wehn de Montalvo, Maria Rusca, Jaap Evers, V. Lanfranchi

Tema

Flood resilient societies through community preparedness

Resumo

The implementation of the European Flood Directive 2007/60/EC requires the establishment of public participation mechanisms to ensure citizens? involvement in the flood management cycle. This raises questions on how to achieve this goal and successfully translate the directive into meaningful and effective participation. Innovative means, such as citizen observatories enabled by information and communication technologies, have the potential to provide new ways of participation. In this paper, we undertake a comparative analysis of governance structures, institutions and mechanisms for citizen participation in the UK, the Netherlands and Italy and analyze the transposition of the directive in these different contexts. Empirical and desk research in the three case study areas was undertaken, covering local water authorities, environmental protection agencies, emergency services, local stakeholders, and their roles and interactions with citizens during different phases of the disaster cycle. Our analysis of the transposition of legal obligations for citizen participation shows that implementation is limited when examining in detail a) the respective roles and types of interactions between citizen and authorities and b) the impact of citizen participation on decision making. Different authorities have differing perceptions of citizen participation in flood risk management in terms of their roles and influence. Our results also indicate that these perceptions are related to the importance that the authorities place on the different stages of the disaster cycle (prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery). The local patterns of participation that have emerged from this governance analysis suggest that the citizen observatories can take specific ?shapes and sizes? in the three locations.