The value of combining a systems view of sustainability with a participatory protocol for ecologically informed design in river basins
Section snippets
Context – The European Union Water Framework Directive
The last two decades have seen a call for increased integration in water management, driven by recognition of the limits of a fragmented organizational approach and an increased understanding of the interconnected nature of water related issues. The newly enacted European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) offers an unparalleled opportunity for improving the way that river basins are managed. In order to achieve the ambitious goals set by the Directive changes will be necessary not only in
Challenges posed by the Water Framework Directive
Integrated catchment management is increasingly being seen as vital for the long-term planning of water systems and the river environment, and forms the basis of the newly enacted European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD), which could be seen as the most ambitious and broad-ranging application of its principles to date. The passing of the EUWFD is seen as the culmination of decades of environmental regulation, aimed at both preventing pollution and protecting important habitats (Chave, 2001
SUNstainable DesignWays
SUNstainable DesignWays™3 is a planning and training toolkit developed by Joanne Tippett and Buddy Williams of Holocene Design. It builds on several fields of
DesignWays and the challenges of the WFD
There are four major components of DesignWays that help to achieve the challenges posed by the WFD identified in this paper, namely the need to go beyond ‘end-of-pipe’ solutions, enhance integration, encourage meaningful participation and to link actions and measures across multiple scales. These components of DesignWays can be summarized as:
- 1.
ecological design and underlying metaphors;
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systems-based criteria of sustainability;
- 3.
an emphasis on the process of design and communication;
- 4.
the use of a
Potential lessons for decision support systems
An important aspect of the DesignWays process is the way in which it functions as a decision support system. Through engaging participants in assessing the assets of an area, clarifying areas of significance and importance to the community and the local ecology, a knowledge base is built against which new ideas for the future can be assessed. Grounding of overarching sustainability principles in particular projects and small-scale areas provides essential data, which can be fed into an overall
Next steps
The next stage of the research involves an in-depth investigation into the value of DesignWays as a means for encouraging effective participation at the landscape level of scale, through analysis of ‘before’ and ‘after’ interviews conducted with participants on this trial in the Irk Valley. This exploration of perceptions and learning will look at whether DesignWays provides a useful tool for increasing understanding about, and skills to deal with, the complex issues that are raised by the goal
Conclusions
The DesignWays process seeks to explore new relationships between individuals, societies and ecological systems. It has been developed in the light of paradigm shifts in several fields, from education to science, which can be seen as a reaction to a mechanistic and reductionist philosophy. It aims to create a tool for applying systems and holistic thinking to participatory planning, following an intellectual tradition that has roots in the philosophy of Aristotle and has a long lineage of
Acknowledgements
The Economic and Social Research Council and the Mersey Basin Campaign provide financial support for this research. Professor John Handley and Joe Ravetz from the Centre for Urban and Regional Ecology in the University of Manchester, Dave Barlow of the Irk Valley Project and Jeff Hinchcliffe, Amanda Wright and Walter Menzies of the Mersey Basin Campaign have given invaluable input into the research. Thanks to Matthew Wilkinson for reviewing the text and to Zinnia Clark for assistance in the
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