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Newsletter and Technical Publications CHAPTER 4. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION 4.3. Public Participation 4.3.4. Stimulation and Integration of Stakeholders Public bodies, through their activities, serve to integrate and stimulate public and cultural opinion. This results, among others things, from the commitment of community members representing various professions, opinions, and interests to work on a problem of common concern, such as water eutrophication control. This is particularly important, especially in the context of broad public education. This issue is discussed in the next section of this chapter. To benefit fully from the opportunities connected with activities of these organizations, their work should be demonstrated to the community through the media, also by comparison with other organizations, including the local authorities. Role of scientific groups and non-governmental organizations Scientific groups and non-governmental organizations play a major role in the public participation process. Scientists are among the first to point out evidence of significant environmental risks and changes resulting from the growing intensity of human activities. Interactions between scientists, citizens groups, non-governmental organizations, and the media create, an increasing public awareness of environmental issues. This, in turn, creates public pressures that stimulate the decision-makers to act. Non-governmental organizations have a special role in the integration of communities. As independent entities they constitute an important stimulating element toward the public, authenticating the social dialogue and undertaken activities. They are usually supra-local organizations, experienced in public environmental education, particularly in conducting educational campaigns, organization of education for children and the young, and public involvement in decision-making processes. Non-governmental organizations often include appropriate practitioners who can plan and conduct public dialogue. Through their contacts with international organizations, they can also be useful in finding financial support. Their contribution can add a larger dimension to supra-local activities, thereby strengthening the environmental lobby of a local community. The success and effectiveness of the activities of public agencies depend to a great extent on the organization of their work and logistics. Appropriate and very careful preparation of all meetings and published materials is the key to success. Numerous public relations manuals describe, in detail, how to achieve this.
Example: Public Participation in Brazil "The Citizens for Water Movement" In Brazil, water is considered an abundant natural resource, when compared with the current demand, although there are very dry areas where water is so precious as to be used only to meet human needs. Although Brazil holds 8% of all fresh water on the surface of our planet, the situation of water in the country is delicate. Most of the available water (80%) is located in the Amazon Region and the remaining 20% is unequally distributed among the other regions, where 95% of the Brazilian population lives. "The Citizens for Water Movement" is an initiative of the Secretariat of Water Resources of the Ministry of Environment, Water Resources, and the Legal Amazon Region that acknowledges and reinforces the efforts of individuals and organizations that are carrying out relevant actions for the preservation of water. The movement will enhance the profile, provide support to, and help organize, those who feel compelled to actively participate in the management of water resources. It is a way of telling citizens, inside and outside government, that the government can do much, but not everything, particularly when dealing with springs and multiple water uses, which are close to individual citizens and far away from government offices. "Citizens for Water" is a public movement that includes citizens inside and outside the government. The efforts to enhance the actions of citizens to protect water resources were initiated by the government, but any non-governmental organization could have done it. Thus, all individuals and organizations that participate in the movement belong to the network of "Citizens for Water". It is important to emphasize that some individuals and organizations were already working in this important area before the movement began its efforts to strengthen and acknowledge their actions. Who are these citizens? Individuals and organizations working to protect water, together or separately, in an ethical manner, within and without the government, participate in the movement. Anyone who considers water as an element of nature, which should be preserved, respected, and used as any other element of nature, is a "Citizen for Water". Who participates in the movement? The various types of participation can, and must, be established by the interested parties, individually, in groups, committees, etc. Citizens are the technicians who disseminate information, fishermen who protect the life of fish, environmentalists committed to the preservation of ecosystems, professors who teach environmental protection, farmers who care for the water within their farms, manufacturers who treat industrial wastes, and citizens who dispose properly the garbage because they know that a plain candy wrapper thrown on the sidewalk will end up first in the gutter, then in a stream and finally in the river. Presently about 20 cities in Brazil have a reference centre and are acting locally at schools, churches, professional societies, and other water users associations. The participation of the Secretariat of Water Resources (SRH) began with the publication of a newsletter aiming at the collection and dissemination of information about the actions of the "Citizens for Water". The SRH also operates a Reference Centre whose functions include promoting conferences and bibliographic surveys, as well as facilitating, coordinating, and encouraging the multiplication of the actions of the Citizens for Water Movement. An ombudsman for environment: the experience of São Paulo State, Brazil (for more information see section 3.4.2., Chapter 3 of this publication). São Paulo is the most developed state in the Brazilian Federal Republic. Located in the Parana/Plata River Basin, it encompasses 241 000 km² and hosts 33 million inhabitants, which implies a demographic density of 137 inh/km². In a radius of 150 km centred in the City of São Paulo, the density increases to more than 500 inh/km² . The large urban population in the São Paulo Metropolitan area and in 530 towns (70% of urban population) is experiencing a wide range of environmental problems of which deforestation, eutrophication, and toxicity of water and soil are outstanding ones. State surface water, on average, has an availability of 3140m³/s. With existing hydraulic structures (mainly reservoirs) it is possible to regulate 70% of that value or 2105 m³/s. Groundwater flow is high in at least two-thirds of the São Paulo State territory. The base flow of the state's rivers is 1300 km³/s. Water demands on the state are 354 m³/s of which 87 m³/s are for domestic urban supply, 112 m³/s for industrial water supply and 154 m³/s for irrigation. In the year 2010 the State of São Paulo demands will be 800 m³/s or 42% of the whole water availability. Forest cover is 2% of the original vegetation cover at the beginning of the century. In order to overcome all the environmental problems associated with the industrial, agricultural (agribusiness is the main agricultural activity) development, and urban concentration, a new institutional organization was created. This organization is an ombudsman for the environment for São Paulo that heads a juridical and law regulation system for the whole state. Each town has an ombudsman that receives requests from the general public to enforce the law in certain local environmental problems. The ombudsman is supported by the local universities or research institutes that provide the technical and scientific background needed to enforce the legislation. This institutional organization has given new possibilities of environmental control on the state, mobilizing associations that actively participate in conservation, recovery and disaster prevention in environmental problems, in general, and particularly in the control of eutrophication and pollution of water. Example: Czech Republic Experiences on Public Involvement in Decision Making Processes Activities Addressed Lakes and Water Reservoirs Eutrophication - Existing Status One of the main barriers in effective public participation in environmental decision-making processes in the Czech Republic is limitation in the accessibility of environmental information to the public. On the one side, there are several state institutions that monitor water quality level. Almost all these institutions are state owned or are being transferred into private companies. Because of weak financial conditions, they expect to sell data to get money for their further activities. They provide data only exceptionally, mostly to students or to the institution belonging to the same ministry. They inform town council, journalists and decision-makers when they are asked. However, the problem is that people do not know what to ask about. In general, the institutions looking after water quality are isolated from the public and do not provide clear, expletive information. In some cities, particularly in small villages or towns where the concentration of nitrates in local water sources could be more than 10 mg/l (upper limit for newborn is 15 mg/l), the information on water quality is provided in public posters, but relevant explanation is missing. None of the articles published in newspapers explains the relationship between nutrient level in drinking water and quality of water resource. The eutrophication issue is not used in any of the articles. It could be assumed that people are informed on drinking water quality in case they have their own particular interest. This is a good example showing that public awareness increasing activities can do very much in changing this pattern to create a new public understanding of the peoples own interest and of the relationship between human life quality and the environment quality. Non-government organizations (NGOs) activity NGOs are not able to stimulate successfully the activities aiming at increasing the public awareness level because of the financial problems. However, there are some cases where NGOs participated in the projects on restoration of eutrophicated fishponds by sediment removal. This project was carried out in the 40 hectares fishpond Vajgar, located in the district town Jindrichuv Hradec in the southern part of the Czech Republic. They also participated in the organization of training courses on the restoration of lakes and streams and the establishment of a Wetland Training Centre. Since 1992, in cooperation with a non-profit NGO International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau ("Wetlands International" from 1997), "Wetlands International" training courses are organized for participants from Eastern and Central European countries on lake and stream restoration, bog conservation, and management. The participants are from universities, schools, state authorities, and NGOs. Two manuals in English were published and distributed among participants. The manual on Lake Restoration was translated into the Czech language. In the Czech Republic, the material from the courses was used for seminars and lectures given at conferences for teachers. They were published in popular journals, and a publication for school children is under preparation. "The foundation Nadatio Flos Aquae" (Czech's NGO organization) deals with water quality in Brno reservoirs and with toxicity of blue green algae. The foundation organized seminars and published one book in the Czech language on water blooms. Such a book can help decision-makers to orient themselves. Under "Nadatio flos aquae" a board of experts is concentrated which can consult practical ecological, hygienical, technological, and toxicological problems connected with water blooms. Films, books and leaflets produced by "Nadatio flos aquae" can be a typical example of how a non-profit organization can help public information and responsible authorities.
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