PARENT SESSION
Tuesday, August 8, 5:00-6:30 pm
Poster Session 9 - Restoration and conservation ecology and ecosystem management
Exhibit Hall, Ballroom Level, Cook Convention Center
Social participation in water resourses management: the law and the practice.
Christofidis, Marina*,1, Catalano de Sousa, Maria Raquel1, 1 University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
ABSTRACT- Around the world many laws and international treaties mention social participation as an important tool for the consolidation of environmental protection programs and instruments. Although social participation is part of many legislation pieces there are only a few experiences around the world in which stakeholders are given the opportunity of having and education and information program that enables them to take concious decisions. These decisions are very important because they may reflect the ethics of that comunity towards the environment. In Brazil many experiences have taken place specially in what regards watershed management and water resources,The Water Plan for Brazil developed socially in 2005, the project BAHIA AZUL in the state of Bahia, the experience of the watershed management committee of the Cubatao River basin in the state of Santa Catarina, the river Classification established socially in the state of Minas Gerais among other experiences will be descripted and discussed in detail. In Europe the FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE is clear about its intentions of having the comunity as stakeholders in water resources management when it mentions the importance of public participation and some countries as France have very intensive results on that matter.Some countries are not yet adapted to the new laws, such as England, and may have to publish new documents including social envolvement in environmental matters. In North America, Canada is a good example in which the law regarding water resourses and social participation is very modern. Many experiences of and techniques used to achieve public participation worldwide will be exposed in this poster. The results of social envolvement in environmental issues are very beneficial because as people feel close to the scope they feel empathy for the ecological systems and discover they are part of it so they mind developing OPTIMAL PRACTICES for many economic uses of water and other environmental resourses. The cognitive system of humans is very plastic and participation can enhance humans intelligence in the search of a sustainable world. As the Human kind has accelerated Earth's degradation Process, a change has to be done among Humans to revert that process and participation may be an important step.
Key words: watershed, water resourses management, participation