Citizen deliberation in the context of Uruguay's first National Water Plan

Bibliographic Data

ID21697047
AuthorsMarila Lázaro (0000-0002-4540-598X, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, corresponding author), Isabel Bortagaray (0000-0001-8994-5403, Institute for Sustainable Development, Innovation and Social Inclusion (IDIIS, for its name in Spanish), Northeast Regional University Centre, Universidad de la República, Tacuarembó, Uruguay), Micaela Trimble (0000-0002-1971-4471, South American Institute for Resilience and Sustainability Studies (SARAS), Bella Vista-Maldonado, Uruguay), Cristina Zurbriggen (0000-0001-5169-6712, Universidad de la República de Uruguay)
Year2021
Volume23
Issue3
Pages487-502
Publication date2021-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWater Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1366-7017 • E-ISSN: 1996-9759
PublisherIWA Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2166/wp.2021.199
OpenAlexW3158408392
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited35

As part of the formulation of the first National Water Plan (NWP) in Uruguay, a mini-public process called ‘Citizen Deliberation on Water (Deci Agua)’ was developed in 2016. While the draft of the plan was being discussed in the formal arenas of water governance (Basin Commissions and Regional Water Resources Councils), a University research team (led by the authors), in coordination with the national water authority, adapted the mechanism of consensus conferences in order to incorporate the citizens’ visions and to contribute to public understanding of the NWP challenges. This article analyses the main aspects of the developed participation strategy and discusses them regarding a set of quality criteria used to evaluate deliberative processes. Although the final version of the NWP (passed by decree in 2017) incorporated some of the contributions of the Citizen Panel, an in-depth analysis of the scope of the deliberative process of Deci Agua allows us to delve into some key aspects related to the quality of participation processes and the challenges. A mixed approach that combines stakeholder participation and lay citizens is novel and desirable in water governance since it increases the scope of participation, deepens the legitimacy of decision-making and improves the public debate

Corporate governance · Deliberation · Deliberative democracy · Democracy · Economics · Environmental planning · Geography · Management · Political science · Public participation · Public relations · Stakeholder · Stakeholder engagement · Environmental law and policy · Law · Public Administration · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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