Public Participation and Effective Water Governance at the Local Level: A Case Study from a Small Under-Developed Area in Chile |
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Authors: | Tarisai?Garande Email author" target="_blank">Suzan?DaggEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Tarisai Garande, 13 Hadleigh Walk, E6 5SA London;(2) Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Life Sciences, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK |
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Abstract: | The concept of participation in rural development has been evolutionary for the past two decades with those involved, such
as development agencies and governments, particularly in rural water supply, re-evaluating their active role. The move towards
effective community participation has encouraged a shift from the traditional top-down to a bottom-up approach whereby there
is a decentralisation of unevenly distributed resources and power to empower a community and allow mobility of ‘people participation’.
The Molinos water project is the first large-scale development project of its kind introduced into the village of Molinos
in an under-developed area of Chile, where there has been no tradition of people participation. The project objective was
to implement a low technology, low budget water treatment plant to the village of Molinos. Various aspects have hindered the
continued development of the project including both technical and financial. In terms of people participation, the initial
approach used was the top-down approach. There was a failure to fully integrate the community or inform the community in a
formal manner about the project and consult them regarding key project issues. This case study illustrates that the lack of
comprehensive consultation and the low level of participation of the community on the participatory scale does not achieve
much in terms of people-centred benefits. For governance at the local level to be effective, participation should be inclusive and communicative so as to
enhance transparency throughout the project lifetime.
Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue. |
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Keywords: | indigenous community local governance participation rural development stakeholders water governance |
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