'River Basin Development: A Negotiated Approach' promotes locally rooted river basin management strategies towards sustainable livelihoods.

Non-sustainable development practices have reduced the capacity of rivers to support and nurture life and livelihoods. In Asia, Africa and Latin America these practices are decreasing the ability of rivers to provide food, income and security for people. Not surprisingly, all over the world, people are demanding new approaches to river basin management, rooted in the foundation of conservation and equity.

Policy makers and water management experts recognise the potential of local approaches to basin management. However, they have yet to recognise the contribution these approaches can and should make to national policies and decision-making regarding river basin development. Such recognition must be translated into participatory processes that allow local actors to negotiate their vision to sustainable river basin management.

'River Basin Development: A Negotiated Approach' accepts the challenge of convincing policy makers and experts to recognise the potential contribution of local initiatives to the policy process. Gomukh (India) and Both ENDS initiated the project. Together with seven partner organisations, they present innovative, locally initiated basin management strategies, that show how bottom-up, ecosystem-based approaches are replicable and can be up-scaled to effectively influence decision-making on a national and basin level.

Read more about the project 'River Basin Development: A Negotiated Approach'

River Basin Management: A Negotiated Approach
This book sets out to present and discuss innovative approaches to river basin management (Both ENDS/Gomukh, 2005)(pdf-en pp 99).

River Basin Management: A Negotiated Approach promotes strategies for river basin management that are rooted in local communities and geared towards sustainable livelihoods. (Both ENDS/Gomukh, 2005)(pdf-en pp 18).

Manejo de Cuencas: Un Enfoque de Negociación Descripción General. Un Enfoque de Negociación promueve estrategias para el manejo de cuencas enraizadas en comunidades locales en pos de una subsistencia sustentable. (Both ENDS/Gomukh, 2005)(pdf-ca pp 20).

Executive Summary & Methodology (January 2005)(pdf-en pp 13)

Case Studies (January 2005)(pdf-en pp 23)

Archive

For more information contact: Daniëlle Hirsch water(at)bothends.org

The River Basin Management project is funded by the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands, under the joint initiative of the Dialogue on Water, Food and Environment