Expérimenter la concertation: Une clé pour des politiques environnementales plus efficaces ? Une démarche multi-acteurs innovante en Tunisie centrale

Abstract

To render policies for water and soil conservation planning (WSCP) more efficient, Tunisia is seeking to reorient them through innovative participatory approaches. Reorientation is taking place in contexts in which data is often lacking, and where the environmental dimension needs to be clearly objectified. Furthermore, very few spaces are available that allow such dialogue between different stakeholders. This paper analyzes an original participatory approach designed to produce quality information and data by exploiting local knowledge and accounting for and sharing the perceptions of the different stakeholders, and finally building a consensus to enable more efficient WSCP policy-making. In addition to a survey of the participants' satisfaction, evaluation called on outside observers, and used an evaluative framework of the process itself, its outcomes and its short-term effects. Sharing and taking into account not only the information and data collected but also the expertise and perception of the different stakeholders made it possible to produce data that all the participants rated as 'satisfactory' to 'very satisfactory'. The participatory process supported the knowledge of all the stakeholders and helped create a constructive dynamics that encouraged group learning. The commitment and the mobilization of the stakeholders, especially at national level, in an operational arena geared towards reaching agreement on territorial stakes, agricultural practices and WSCP, paves the way for the decentralization of political power.