The Impact of Scientific Knowledge on Water Management: A Comparative Perspective

本项目调查了巴西在水管理中技术信息的使用：阐明在政策制定中使用技术信息的机会和限制，特别是在水管理中，并调查在巴西最近实施的水管理改革背景下，这些知识的使用如何影响决策。这个科学/社会相互作用的例子说明了应用技术知识的机构环境如何在信息作为政策工具的有效性方面发挥作用，以及机构如何响应和适应新的政策工具。1997年，巴西颁布了新的国家水法，引入了一个综合的、分散的、参与式的和环境可持续的水管理系统。这导致了公众在流域一级参与水资源管理的几个例子，例如用户委员会、流域委员会和向公众开放的水政策理事会。在这样的组织中，技术信息可以扮演许多与策略相关的角色，包括为不同类型的决策、计划和执行提供支持信息。然而，这些信息会以不同的、有时是毫无根据的方式严重影响决策。本研究试图提出的一个关键论点是，技术信息的使用依赖于上下文。在决策中使用信息的成本和收益的分配取决于信息生产者和使用者所处的社会、政治和文化背景。更好的信息可能导致更好的决策，而更明智的决策可能会鼓励利益相关者对有效性的认识，这反过来又可能鼓励利益相关者的参与。或者，技术信息的使用会使决策与公众隔绝，从而疏远参与。由于技术信息的使用需要技术专长，它可以保护政策制定者免受政治干预和外部势力影响政策实施和结果的努力。在这种情况下，技术官僚对技术信息的使用会使决策变得不负责任和缺乏民主。本研究采用定量和定性相结合的方法，对三个流域进行了详细的案例研究。将对政策制定者、信息生产者和利益相关者进行深入的半结构化访谈和焦点小组讨论。参与观察公共会议和国家层面的政策制定。这些发现可以使决策者和利益相关者了解在决策中应用基于科学的信息的可能性和制约因素，并向数据生产者提供关于用户数据需求的信息。通过研究在不同政策环境中应用技术知识的政治和文化方面，本研究有助于政策科学中的分析框架，如社会建构主义、政策分析和科学社会学。结果将包括英语和葡萄牙语的学术和政策导向的演讲和出版物。

This project investigates the use of technical information in water management in Brazil:To illuminate the opportunities and constraints for the use of technical information in policymaking, especially water management, and To investigate how the use of such knowledge affects decision making in the context of the recently implemented water management reform in Brazil. This example of science/society interaction illustrates how institutional settings where technical knowledge is applied play a role in the effectiveness of this information as a policy tool, and how institutions respond and adapt to new policy tools. In 1997 Brazil enacted new national water law that introduced an integrated, decentralized, participatory, and environmentally sustainable water management system. This resulted in several instances of public participation in water resources management at the watershed level, such as users' commissions, watershed committees, and water policy councils that are open to the public. Within such organizations, technical information can play many policy-related roles, including providing support information for different kinds of decision-making, planning, and enforcement. However, such information can critically affect decision-making in different, sometimes unwarranted, ways. A key argument this study seeks to advance is that the use of technical information is context-dependent. The distribution of costs and benefits of information use in policymaking depends on the social, political, and cultural context in which information producers and users work. Better information may lead to better decisions, and better-informed decision-making might encourage stakeholders' perception of effectiveness, which in turn, might encourage stakeholder participation. Or, the use of technical information can alienate participation by insulating decision-making from the public. Because technical information requires technical expertise for its use, it can shield policymakers from political meddling and efforts from outsiders to influence policy implementation and outcome. In this case, technocrats' use technical information can make decisionmaking unaccountable and less democratic. This study involves detailed case studies in three watersheds using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups will be carried out with policymakers, information producers, and stakeholders. Participatory observation of public meetings and policymaking at the state level are used. The findings can inform policymakers and stakeholders of the possibilities and constraints for application of science-based information in policymaking, as well as to provide data producers with information on data needs from users. By examining political and cultural aspects of the application technical knowledge in distinct policy environments, this study contributes to analytical frameworks within the policy sciences, such as social constructivism, policy analysis, and the sociology of science. Results will include scholarly and policy-oriented presentations and publications in English and Portuguese. 0135497 .