As watershed organizations develop, facilitate a form of governance that is democratic and able to generate outcomes considered legitimate by all affected parties:
- Provide a foundation of accepted scientific knowledge about the scope of the problems and the underlying biological-chemical-physical-socio-economic factors at work;
- Develop rules to inform the planning process that are accepted as ‘‘right’’ and just by the stakeholders and provide for a process through which interested individuals (stakeholders)develop, debate, reject, and accept plans to deal withthe identified problems while promising to reach stipulated goals including a process for making the plan known to all affected parties;
- Establish an accepted process for implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of the plan and its recommendations in an impartial way including a way to amend the plan or recommendation in light of new scientific information or changingsocial and/or environmental conditions.
Community
The learning experience: Evolves from work with a coalition or group.
The learning experience: Builds on locally existing skills and resources.
The learning experience: Is flexible in response to both process and conditions.
The learning experience: Generates and makes use of data about the local condition.
Beyond the Community
The learning experience: Builds skills for flexibility and responsiveness to environmental issues and for facilitating community engagement.
Citation: Adams, J., Kraft, S., Ruhl, J. B., Lant, C., Loftus, T., & Duram, L. (2005). Watershed planning: Pseudo-democracy and its alternatives – the case of the cache river watershed, illinois. Agriculture and Human Values, 22(3), 327-338.
Citation Type: Research
