Start always with having or making a stakeholder analysis. Stakeholder mapping. Who's in? Initially you might just start out with a desk study, knowing that you're going to, looking to, water management system, then okay, you can think about who is involved in the water management system. Engineers and public authorities. There are factories that are having waste water. And people own the land around where the water is running and so on. But then you have to go out to meet reality and find out who's actually there. And there you might also distinguish between different kinds of social categories. Men and women. Adults, children. And different strata of the society. The rich and the poor. Those who live close to the water and those who live far from it, and so on. That's where reality comes in and where you need to be inventive. Think about that all the stakeholders that you count in in your functional systems, that there are people who actually have their own daily lives and their own concerns and worries. And it should be practical for them as well. So, try to focus on that aspect. And if you are working in developing countries or within programs that take development seriously, think about who are the weakest groups, and try to find them and make contact with them and hear their story. Their version of how to live your management, water management system whatever environmental management system that you're working on. Think of using their local knowledge. Their knowledge about how things are being done. What works? What happens when the rains come? So that you can learn from them as well, instead of just trying to teach them about what are the modern new good solutions that they should live with now. And once you build your system, your management system, also think of the representatives that these weak groups may have in the daily management of the system. Do they have anything to say, once you leave the place? How could you go about doing this when you start? Well one way is going through a location. You can call that a walk through survey. Where you may have some first contacts with some of the local stakeholders that are interested in the project. But then, you walk through the area and try to see what you can observe from your own observations about who's there, what could be possible impacts. But then you start asking the questions to the people you meet. Who are involved in this? Who are using this facility? Who would be actually running it? Or who would be impacted if we make any changes? Understanding the situation as it is now. And understanding it in the words of those people who are actually living there and practicing there now, is an important step to start with before you actually think of making any changes there. I said, stakeholder analysis is one important thing. A second, very important thing is talking about institutions. Finding out which are the institutions that are there who actually govern that management system. Or, which are the organizations there that could be used for managing the system. Often, then these are the places where you need to target your capacity building efforts. That sometimes, and very often, need to be included in your strategy of planning. You need to think about also the question of decentralization or centralization, what can be done at the local level and what has to be done at the central top level? In terms of the management system so that you don't lose if you centralize too much, so that you don't lose the local ownership. Always also try to think in terms of contractual arrangements with the people that are playing a role in your planning process. What do they get if they contribute? That can often help sustained participation and make the expectancies more conforming with reality. In this whole process, keep thinking of what I said in the beginning about the communicative aspects. And the forms of communication that we practice. And use this now to make from each of the different stakeholder groups' point of view, an analysis that we could term a social sustainability analysis or feasibility study of your proposal. Each solution that you come up with should be discussed with a different stakeholders in terms of that proposals appropriateness for them. Appropriateness in terms of technical appropriateness, that is does it work and are we able to organize ourselves until we had the skills to do it? But also cultural or symbolic appropriateness meaning does this make sense for us to participate in? Is this the kind of problem that we want solved? And is this the kind of way to solve it that we can live with that it's according to our ways of living? Sometimes this is not quite something that entities think about, but you should at least consider it. Financial aspects, yes, as it's feasible for people financially to do it, possible. Social, does it Impact on their social relations to each other or some people having to work together who are not used to working together. If they're not used to it, then you have to figure out how to build working relationships as you go along, etcetera. The last one is the political feasibility. Now all environmental management projects have a political dimension. They all enter into the struggle for power, control over the resources. And they can be used by the different actors, different stakeholder groups, for their own purposes. Who is going to control the project? Where is the water well being placed? Who's being close, who's being further away? So there is a political dimension that you need to understand. You don't need to be a political scientist as an engineer, but you need to understand that whatever solution you come up with It enters into a political debate. And you must allow time for these processes, political processes to occur and you must take stock of what comes out of it. What is possible politically, you need to think into your technical design. So this makes me return to the aspects of participatory communication. Always try to think bottom up. That is, talk to the users, the people who are going to be working on the floor in your projects, as well as the managers further up. As an expert, if you want to talk to ordinary people, be modest, try to use a language that they can understand. Try to talk about the practical life as it appears, instead of using theoretical concepts, make it out of space for social interaction, eat together,have games together, do things together so that you get to know each other. Always refer, give examples of what you mean, instead of talking in a more general way and. Then, try to link up with people who have the skills in participatory techniques of communication
