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Workshop on Public Participation in the
Environmental Decision-Making Process in Chile and Canada
October 3 & 4, 2000, Santiago
A workshop on "Public Participation in the Environmental Decision-Making Process in Chile and Canada" was held in Santiago de Chile, on October 3 and 4, 2000, under the auspices of the Joint Public Advisory Committee created by the Canada-Chile Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Four major themes were covered during the event:
- Public Participation in Environmental Management;
- Strengthening Civil Society for Environmental Management;
- The Role of Civil Society in Monitoring, Assessment and Oversight of Environmental Regulations and Policies; and
- Public Participation and Environmental Disputes.
These subjects were discussed by knowledgable professionals from the public and private sector, at an event attended by an audience of over sixty people representing government, non-governmental organizations, universities and other institutions. The activity was divided into presentations and group work in workshops, during which there were intense discussions of the different subjects covered. A list of the presentations follows:
- Public Participation in Environmental Management
- 1.1 "Public Participation in the Drafting of Environmental Regulations and Voluntary Initiatives," Bruce McEwen, Environment Canada
- 1.2 "Public Participation in Environmental Management: Policy Orientations," Marisa Weinstein, CONAMA - National Environmental Commission
- Strengthening Civil Society for Environmental Management
- 2.1 "Weakening of Public Participation in a Fragmented Society," Juan Pablo Orrego, Group of Friends of the Bío Bío
- 2.2 "Public Policy and Civil Society," María Eliana Arntz, Division of Social Organizations
- 2.3 "Challenges in Encouraging Potential Contributions from Civil Society," Beatrice Olivastri, Friends of the Earth
- The Role of Civil Society in Monitoring, Assessment and Oversight of Environmental Regulations and Policies
- 3.1 "Civil Society and Environmental Policy: Current Problems and Challenges," Sara Larraín, Sustainable Chile
- 3.2 "Three Canadian Models for Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment," Rod Northey, Birchall Northey
- Public Participation and Environmental Disputes
- 4.1 "Environmental Disputes as Incentives for Participation," Francisco Sabatini, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile
- 4.2 "Environmental Decision Management: A Participatory Approach," Gord Rozon, AMEC Earth & Environment
- 4.3 "Participation and Dialogue: A Chance for Timely Resolution," Javiera Prieto, CONAMA - National Environmental Commission
Full text of the presentations in Spanish
At the end of the Seminar, the following conclusions were presented:
- Public participation should be part of the State management model and public policies; it should be included in the various levels and phases of decision-making.
- Public participation should be based upon:
- Transparent management which generates support from the public.
- Public knowledge and concerns, which improve the quality of environmental management.
- Sustainability of environmental decisions.
- More transparent management minimizes the political component (discretional or arbitrary) of environmental decisions.
- Public participation should be present in the design, execution and evaluation of environmental management and policy tools.
- Civil society has different levels of groups (various kinds of citizen organizations, individuals, etc.) that characterize it and ensure its autonomy from the State and the fact that it is not for profit. Civil society today occupies the lowest position in the State-market-citizenry triangle.
- The discussion groups generated various proposals to strengthen public participation.
The first set of proposals is related to government policies and programmes for public participation:
- Generate an effective policy for public participation at the State level. Identify and develop different mechanisms and methods for public participation at the various phases of decision-making.
- Improve technical capacity for public participation by strengthening public knowledge.
- The authorities should give timely, constant information throughout the decision-making process.
- Provide technical and financial resources for participatory processes.
- Provide public funding to communities affected by a project to contract technical, legal and training resources.
- Promote and undertake early participation processes.
The second set of proposals to strengthen public participation deals with the linkages between actors:
- Generate mechanisms to create trust among the different actors.
- Generate trust between the State, the public and businesses.
- Generate a culture of participation.
- Generate public indicators in projects of the environmental impact assessment system.
- Generate ways and spaces to exchange experiences, for example through disclosure or essentially through information dissemination.
A third group of proposals to strengthen citizen participation refers to strengthening civil society:
- The State should generate mechanisms to support social organizations, legal and financing mechanisms and mechanisms for transfers and power.
- The Government should contribute to generating participatory values.
- Civil society itself should generate instruments and resources independently to become stronger.
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