Abstract
From 1998 to 2000, the multi-stakeholder World Commission on Dams (WCD) developed recommendations on improved planning procedures to overcome continuous debates and conflicts on large dams. The publication of the WCD report met a mixed response. Most stakeholders agreed to the underlying values of the WCD recommendations, but criticized the planning guidelines brought forward as too far-reaching and imprecise. Nevertheless, the WCD had a remarkable impact on dam policies.
The WCD recommendations, which necessarily had to remain quite abstract to be universally applicable, need to be operationalized before they can be applied in practice. This challenge has been tackled by different institutions and stakeholders in a wide range of thematic and geographical contexts. After more than 5 years, it has become possible to take stock of such experiences. The chapter examines two concrete attempts from Nepal and the Mekong Basin to implement parts of the WCD recommendations by conducting national level dialogues and by engaging in long-term planning. The lessons learnt, both through positive and negative outcomes, are useful to improve WCD implementation approaches in future and understand the significance and applicability of WCD recommendation today.
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Fink, M., Cramer, A. (2008). Towards Implementation of the World Commission on Dams Recommendations. In: Scheumann, W., Neubert, S., Kipping, M. (eds) Water Politics and Development Cooperation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-76707-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-76707-7_2
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