Organisation: Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management
Location: International
Type: Apps & Tools
Link: Visit Website
The purpose of these tools is to provide support and inspiration to water councils (catchment partnerships), local water groups and authorities. These tools aim to increase participation and cooperation, resulting in more action.
The work we do together is a long-term learning process. We can learn by developing our visions, by acting and reflecting on what we do. To learn from one another, we need trust each other, which is brought about by encounters and discussions. We need to use networks to cooperate, in order to achieve our visions.
The basic prerequisites for participation are access, scope and an opportunity to influence. For this, both structure and approaches need to be developed and made clear. These tools should help with this.
Some basic approaches:
These tools include everything from really simple methods to more complicated measures, and they include everything from group interaction to specific actions.
Learn by doing:
The tools are described in brief. Try using them, see how they work, combine them and rework them so that they suit you. Maybe you could develop your own new tools. The aim is for them to support your group process and make a contribution. Process leaders with a little experience may be needed to assist with some of the tools. The water district authorities or an adult education association can be consulted if you need help. Open, inviting work is usually inspired, engaging and fun. Don’t forget to highlight your progress – and celebrate!
These tools have been created on behalf of the Interreg project Water Co-Governance by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management.
The purpose of the tools is to support and inspire water groups, associations, organizations and authorities. The tools will provide conditions for increased participation and collaboration and thereby contribute to more action.
This is a way to jointly create an image of how you envisage a future course of events. It can be used when a group is to jointly create an action plan.
This is an alternative to the traditional agenda that may be appropriate for certain meetings. The agenda is created jointly at the beginning of the meeting.
When new groups meet, it is valuable that everyone gets to introduce themselves. By telling a little about who you are, you get a good start in the group where everyone can make their voice heard. We can then let go of thoughts about who the others are and instead take on a common task or experience.
The purpose of an action plan is to provide structure and facilitate implementation for the group, helping you to achieve the targets and visions that you have defined. This plan answers the questions of WHO does WHAT, HOW and WHEN.
Being proud of what you have achieved together is an important part of any cooperation. Therefore, don’t forget to celebrate the results and thank the people who made these results possible.
Celebrating may involve a small celebration – bringing a cake to a regular coffee break and celebrating the results. Or it may involve a larger celebration out at the new wetlands, with an opening speech and an orchestra. No matter what the size, this celebration provides an opportunity for reflection, pride and a sense of fellowship.
The purpose of the tools is to support and inspire water groups, associations, organizations and authorities. The tools will provide conditions for increased participation and collaboration and thereby contribute to more action.
Using a map, you work together to compile a list of beautiful, valuable, interesting or educational places in the river basin.
This is a way of increasing awareness of typical or particularly interesting species, ecosystems and cultural history environments within the river basin.
Including cultural history in work involving water is one way of extending participation and making this work even more interesting.
Visiting a place together in order to study a specific environment or subject can bring new knowledge, new perspectives and new ideas.
These trails provide a useful starting point for talking about the local water environments, nature and cultural history.
Water and nature are a fantastic source of inspiration and creativity. This allows us to link culture and water work.
Hold a Water Day to present your water system or a watercourse to the wider public
Forge contact with people, schools and communities near other world rivers in order to swap experiences, find out new things and create a global perspective
The purpose is to present the water system and provide an overall view of it in respect of nature, water, geology, the community, cultural history, ecosystem services and problems, and possibly suggested measures as well.
A good and sufficiently detailed map of the river basin is one of the most educational tools you can use in order to understand how the water links the landscape together.