PARTICIPATIVE PLANNING PROCESSES IN FLOOD RISK AND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

For each watershed with an area of around 100 to 1000 km 2 , an integrative watershed management plan is elaborated that prioritizes the measures in risk management, points out the synergies of coordinated action of different planning disciplines and identifies solutions for solving environmental problems and conflicts in the use of natural resources. These plans are elaborated by means of the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. Different specialists in the fields of natural hazard assessment, hydrology, hydropower, biology and land use planning are analysing the situation in the watershed and point out the strengths and weaknesses of the actual way of resources management and risk management. In a further step, the results of sector analyses are analysed and combined under a holistic aspect. On the basis of these sector and inter-sector analyses, the stakeholders then decide together in working groups in a couple of public forums about the guidelines and goals for future development of the watershed. In this phase, target conflict between goals of different planning sectors could be made evident. The forums (round tables) offer occasions for discussing solutions for solving interest resp. target conflicts. The guidelines for the future development of the watershed concretize and specify the global goals of EU water and flood framework directives on a local level. The commonly developed guidelines are merely coordinating instruments. But, by the incorporation of the guidelines into the sector working programmes of all stakeholders they become a binding status. The local administrations incorporate the guidelines into their planning instruments resp. modify them in case of conflicts. The regional administrations such as the torrent and avalanche control service incorporate the guidelines in their medium- and long-term working programmes. On the basis of these guidelines for the future development of the watershed, the experts elaborate possible variants of measures suitable to reach the catalogue of goals for the development of the watershed and present them to the forum. The forum selects those measures from the proposed measures that 1) are suited mostly for the achievement of the goals set, 2) are accepted socially, 3) do not induce new social or economic conflicts, 4) have a high potential of synergies for more planning