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Forest and Nature Governance pp 69–88Cite as

What Institutions Do: Grasping Participatory Practices in the Water Framework Directive

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Part of the book series: World Forests ((WFSE,volume 14))

Abstract

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires member states to organise public participation in the implementation of the Directive. In the Netherlands, neither the great effort put into organising such public participation in the WFD nor the numerous participatory processes that have taken place have been evaluated very positively by societal groups. This dissatisfaction leads us to question to what extent it is possible to design and organise participation that the organisers experience as successful and the participants accept as legitimate. In this chapter, we apply the practice based approach to analyse both the organisation of public participation in the Netherlands and the ways in which participants have used and experienced it. The chapter draws on literature on institutional design, practice theory, and public participation in order to describe the practice of participation and the logic it exhibits. The case study of the design and organisation of public participation in the context of the WFD in the Netherlands shows how new participatory institutions were introduced in an effort to reorder the three fields of practice in which participants were situated: the public sphere, the governance network, and the economic sphere. Our findings show that the participants’ logic of practice changed very little. These findings are not to be interpreted as a disincentive for the institutional design of public participation, but rather as a call to policy makers and academics to pay due attention to the fields of practice in which actual or potential participants are entwined and to the principles that implicitly guide these actors’ doings and sayings.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In the Netherlands, there are sub-river basins of four international river basins, the Rhine, the Meuse, the Scheldt, and the Ems. In total, seven sub-river basins exist in the Netherlands.

  2. 2.

    Water boards (waterschappen) are sector-specific regional authorities that manage water quality and quantity. These authorities have the right to levy tax and have an elected board.

  3. 3.

    Dutch Federation for Agriculture and Horticulture (Land en Tuinbouw Organisatie).

  4. 4.

    The Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO–NCW).

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Acknowledgments

The research for this article was generously supported by a grant (number 311-09-121) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group, P.O. Box 47, 6700, AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Jelle Behagel

  2. Section Policy, Organization, Law & Gaming, Delft University of Technology, Postbus 5015, 2600, GA, Delft, The Netherlands

    Sonja van der Arend

Authors
  1. Jelle Behagel
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  2. Sonja van der Arend
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jelle Behagel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre, Chairgroup Forest & Nature, Wageningen University &, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, Wageningen, 6708 PB, Netherlands

    Bas Arts

  2. , Forest & Nature Cons. Policy Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, Wageningen, 6708 PB, Netherlands

    Jelle Behagel

  3. , Social Sciences, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen, 6706 KN, Netherlands

    Séverine van Bommel

  4. , Forest & Nature Con. Policy Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, Wageningen, 6708 PB, Netherlands

    Jessica de Koning

  5. , Forest & Nature Con. Policy Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3, Wageningen, 6708 PB, Netherlands

    Esther Turnhout

Annex 1: List and Dates of Interviewees Cited in this Chapter (All Interviews Were in Dutch and Have Been Translated by the Authors)

Annex 1: List and Dates of Interviewees Cited in this Chapter (All Interviews Were in Dutch and Have Been Translated by the Authors)

  • R1: A spokesperson for Natuur & Milieu (an environmental organisation), 31 June 2008.

  • R2: A spokesperson for HISWA (the organisation for the Dutch water sports industry and water sports enthusiasts), 17 July 2009.

  • R3: A spokesperson for Stichting Het Zuid-Hollands Landschap (a provincial landscape protection foundation), 8 April 2009.

  • R4: A spokesperson for LTO Glaskracht (the platform for greenhouse horticulturists), 17 April 2009.

  • R5: A spokesperson for Bouwend Nederland (an association for the construction industry), 9 April 2009.

  • R6: A spokesperson for Stichting Reinwater (a foundation fighting water pollution), 15 April 2009.

  • R7: National coordinator of the WFD in the Netherlands, 2 July 2008.

  • R8: A spokesperson for Milieufederatie Zuid-Holland (a provincial environmental organisation), 7 April 2009.

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Behagel, J., van der Arend, S. (2012). What Institutions Do: Grasping Participatory Practices in the Water Framework Directive. In: Arts, B., Behagel, J., van Bommel, S., de Koning, J., Turnhout, E. (eds) Forest and Nature Governance. World Forests, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5113-2_4

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