Social Learning in Wetland Development

Abstract

An important issue in wetland planning and design is the most appropriate relationship between expert knowledge and public participation. How is it possible to organise a meaningful input from the public and what does this mean for the role of specialists? The insight that stakeholders, for instance local farmers, must be involved in the development of wetlands is widely accepted. But the extent of this involvement appears to be a matter for discussion. Some argue that only sound research can be the basis for the analysis of the actual situation and for setting objectives in planning and design. They claim that the most important intention of wetland development is to improve their ecological value. A consequence of this paradigm is that the involvement of stakeholders would be limited to including them in a ‘valuefree’ planning process that is to lead to achieving a given objective. At most, stakeholders might be consulted in order to check whether data are well interpreted and processed; and they may eventually be given a role in wetland management.