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Caring
for the Wadden Sea as an
Interactive Process
A trilateral workshop about public
participation in the Wadden Sea area of the Netherlands, Germany
and Denmark, Nieuweschans (NL), 13-15 October 1999.
Introduction / Objectives
/ Preparation / Program
/ Organizing Comittee / Results
(Summary)
Introduction
The quality of the Wadden
Sea area in the three countries involved is highly depending
on the interaction between governments, NGO’s, economic
users, and the public. Interaction in order to maintain an ecologically
and environmentally high quality area. Governments committed
themselves to try to achieve this goal at the trilateral ministerial
conference on the Wadden Sea (Stade, October 1997). It approved
of the following text: ‘The Ministers AGREE to explore
possibilities to enhance the quality of public participation
and WELCOME the initiative of The Netherlands to organise a workshop
for that purpose’ (Stade Declaration, par. 35).
In order to follow-up this
agreement the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management
and Fisheries has taken the initiative to organise this workshop
in close co-operation with EcoMare (Wadden and North Sea Centre,
Texel, the Netherlands), the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat and
German and Danish counterparts.
Public participation: problems and
perspectives
In order to reach that goal
governments, inhabitants, users and visitors have a joint responsibility.
The question how this can be taken up in the various countries,
lies at the heart of this workshop.
It has become obvious that
the traditional role of governments as a sole regulator (‘we
discover the problem, describe it, take measurements and carry
them out’) is changing. Stakeholders play their roles from
the pre-recognition phase of problems on. The public, but also
specialised organisations and governments themselves have to
get used to a new balance in roles.
The call for public participation
can be made more concrete as follows:
- there is a need for direct
contributions to proper management of the Wadden area by individual
acting, but in different roles: inhabitant, visitor and economic
user
- there is a need for interactive
relations with government in the latter’s policy-making
procedures.
There are, however, some
constraints which are obstructing the open communication between
authorities and other actors. These can be defined in terms of
misinformation of those involved, time and facility constraints,
access to information sources, traditional role concepts, etc.
Thus there remain quite some
desires to be fulfilled before public participation in questions
regarding the Wadden Sea area in the three countries will be
enhanced.
Objectives
and general description of the workshop
The overall goal of the workshop
is to contribute to a climate in which the exchange of information
regarding Wadden issues works out more effectively and in which
the joint forces to sustainably manage the area, is enhanced.
More concrete, the workshop should achieve the following results:
1. A common language with
regard to the concept of ‘public participation’, ‘information’
and ‘communication’
2. Clarification and mutual
understanding of personal and institutional motives for participation.
3. Set of agreed guidelines
on participation in Wadden issues which contributes to the next
Trilateral Ministerial Conference.
Place,
dates, participants and costs of the workshop
The workshop will take place
in The Netherlands:
Bronnenbad Fontana, Nieuweschans (east of Groningen), 13-15 October
1999
The geographical background
of the participants will be from the three countries involved:
Germany, Denmark and The Netherlands. It is encouraged that the
number of participants will be evenly divided over the countries;
the maximum number will be 60. The intended participants will
be representing:
- interest groups, representing
Wadden area inhabitants (environmental, social)
- governments (local, provincial,
Länder, national level)
- managers of National Parks
and protected areas
- researchers in education
and communication
- visitors’ organisations
- intermediate and public
organisations, information and education centres
The participants will all
stay in the Bronnenbad. The costs of the workshop will be Dfl.
400,-. Individual allowances for ngo’s are to be requested
from Mr. At de Groot (see address list).
Preparation of the workshop
In order to prepare the workshop
properly, an Internet discussion will be initiated. This will
be done by EcoMare (Texel, the Netherlands). The discussion will
run from 9 August until 19 September 1999 on the following Internet
site: <www.waddenzee.nl>. Two parallel Internet discussions
will be developed:
- one based on the basic rules
of public participation, drawbacks and bottlenecks, inviting
people to comment, to add examples etc.
- one based on the idea of
the North Sea Infobase (the result of an international, recently
EC-sponsored, public information project) and its translation
into several derived products, such as the Internet site Interwad.
The results of this discussion
will be published prior to and as an input for the workshop.
As a further preparation
to the workshop interviews were held in the three countries.
The overall goals were to produce an overview of the present
situation with regard to participation in Wadden issues. The
results will be presented at the workshop.
PROVISIONAL
PROGRAMME
Wednesday 13 October
16 h Arrival and registration
18 h Welcome by the chair
of the workshop
Introduction to the general
theme, by Mr. Chr. Maas Geesteranus (chairman of organising committee)
Av-presentation
Objectives:
- setting the scene
- creating an open, familiar atmosphere
20 h Dinner
21.30 h Social evening
Thursday 14 October
Session 1 is about:
- state of the art of
participation in governmental policy-making
- talking common language
in addressingarticipation, information, communication
9 h Welcome by the chair
Formal opening of workshop
by Mr. H.R. Oosterveld, director North of the Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature Management and Fisheries, the Netherlands
9.30 h Presentation of the
interview results in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, by
Ms. I. Svennevig (Danish researcher)
Objective: understanding
the main similarities and differences in participation processes
as presently felt by different actors
10.15 h Keynote speech 1:
Concepts of modern governance and its consequences for facilitating
communication with society by Mr. L. Müller (Ministerium
für Natur und Umwelt des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)
Objectives:
- highlighting the position
and constraints for governments in policy-making
- clarify shifting responsibilities
of governments
11 h Coffee break
11.30 h Keynote speech 2:
Principles and practice of effective interactive policy-development
by Ms. M. Neyzen, Government Information Service (the Netherlands)
Objective: developing
a common framework of possibilities, needs and expectations for
participation
12.15 h Discussion and conclusions
of the morning session
12.30 h Lunch
Session 2 is about: principles
and intentions of public participation
14 h Keynote speech 3: Public
communication and participation in the main environmental issues
of the Trilateral Wadden Sea Plan by a member of the Trilateral
Working Group (TWG)
Objective: clarifying
goals of actors in participation processes
14.30 h Short statements
on roles in participation:
- different actors
- (local) media
- education/information centres
- do’s and dont’s
14.45 h Mixed, trilateral
discussion groups; all groups discuss:
1. Positions, roles and responsibilities
of actors (institutional, individual) in participation processes
3. Contributions of intermediate
education/information networks and centres in participation
4. Do’s and dont’s
in participation processes
Objective:
- formulating mutual intentions
in participation processes
15.45 h Tea break
16.15 h Application in personal
situation, provisional conclusions; discussion in 3 national
groups
18.45 h Reception, hosted
by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries
20 h Dinner
21.30 h Social evening
Friday 15 October
Session 3 is about: conclusions,
practical proposals and recommendations
9 h Opening by the chair
Objectives: - formulating
concrete proposals for participation processes
10.30 h Coffee break and
demonstration sessions of new developments in public information
and education:
- de Vleet and the North
Sea Infobase
- Interwad as a source of
on-line information
- Internet discussion platforms
- information about computers
in EcoMare’s Water Hall
- information about computers
in Multimar Wattforum
- large scale target group
research (Waddenvereniging).
11.15 h Group sessions (national)
Objective: - preparing
results of the workshop (for the individual countries and the
next trilateral ministerial conference)
12.15 h Presentation of conclusions
and recommendations by the national groups, based on:
- provisional conclusions
of Thursday afternoon
- discussion on Friday morning
Closing speech by the Secretary
of State for Nature Management,
Ms. G.H. Faber, the Netherlands
Optional: excursion
Optional: informal follow-up
session (guided by EcoMare) on:
- quality standards for information
centres and
- development of the basic
information system NSI
Organising
Comittee
Chris Maas Geesteranus
Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature Management and Fisheries
National Reference Centre for Nature Management
POB 30, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands
Tel: #31 317 474820/2
Fax: #31 317 474909
Email: c.maas.geesteranus@ikcn.agro.nl
At de Groot
Ministry of Agriculture,
Nature Management and Fisheries Directorate North
POB 30032, 9700 RM Groningen, the Netherlands
Tel: #31 50 5992351
Fax: #31 50 5992399
Email: a.t.de.groot@lnvn.agro.nl
Jan Kuiper
EcoMare
Ruyslaan 92, 1796 AZ De Koog, the Netherlands
Tel: #31 222 317741
Fax: #31 222 317744
Email: ecomare@tip.nl
Lars Müller
Ministerium für Natur
und Umwelt des Landes Schleswig-Holstein
Grenzstrasse 1-5, D 24149 Kiel, Germany
Tel: #49 431 9887339
Fax: #49 431 9887239/7988/7179
Email: lars.mueller@umin.landsh.de
Horst Dorn
Niedersächsisches Umweltministerium
Postfach 4107 D, 30041 Hannover, Germany
Tel: #49 511 1203556
Fax: #49 511 1203694
Email: horst.dorn@mu.niedersachsen.de
John Frederiksen
Amternes Vadehavssamarbejde
Sorsigvej 35, DK 6760 Ribe, Denmark
Tel: #45 75 424200, ext. 7120
Fax: #45 75 424795
Email: jf@ribeamt.dk
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