Stakeholder Dialogue and Learning System Design for Institutional Arrangements in Mvoti Catchment

1. Developing options (5 months) • Generate three different options for future institutional arrangements for the Mvoti • Work up details of options (in terms of five assets) and initial appraisals • Undertake detailed appraisals and select preferred option 3. Developing options

2. 4. Agreeing the best option • Agreeing the best option (5 months) • Agree proposal and constitution for consultation • Finalise proposal and constitution and present to Minister for in principle approval • Final amendments and approval

3. Findings: Building effective multi-stakeholder dialogue in the Mvoti has been critical to finding an effective solution In this case the catchment was small enough to become the ‘mediating object’ for the dialogue The dialogue was built on stakeholder terms (what might be the most appropriate institutional arrangements for the Mvoti?) rather than on DWAF’s terms (how to transform the IB’s?) Investing in the dialogue process (social learning takes time) has resulted in significant commitment from most stakeholder groups; the relationship with DWAF (which is multi-level) has proved to be one of the more challenging

4. 1. Building the dialogue 4. Agreeing the best option 2. Broadening the dialogue 3. Developing options In a world of performance targets, this partially linear, partially non-linear model of project management helped to frame the dialogue

5. Case study 2: How to design a learning system for the DWAF KZN staff development programme: focusing on social learning for adaptive, integrated water resources managing

6. 8 x 1 or 2-day workshops Sept07 Dec07 Feb08 May08 July08 Sept08 Nov08 Feb09

7. Framing adaptation through the metaphor of ‘transition’ old system current system future system

8. Managing the transition… …requires a learning journey

9. I adapt my personal toolkit and plan for further actions I make a plan to try out new approaches Personal toolkit Personal toolkit Learning community Learning community Learning community Others offer insights to questions to help me to clarify ways forward I review my plan with colleagues I review with colleagues what I did and how effective I was Real world work Real world work I experiment with new approaches (over a 2 month period) What is the real world issue or question I am struggling with? Using an action learning approach…

10. How do we understand ‘integration’ across a complex set of issues?

11. Infrastructure Social Environmental Is it possible to integrate these four themes using technical models? Economic

12. Infrastructure Social Environmental And how do you do this when you are trying to build understanding with different stakeholder groups? Economic

13. Infrastructure Economic Social Environmental Many clever but complex technical models of integration exist…

14. Infrastructure Economic Social Environmental …but (how) will stakeholders understand them?

15. Infrastructure Social Environmental So… how do you build understanding with different stakeholder groups? Economic

16. Learning Infrastructure Economic G-F-I* Social Environmental Watercourse approach: *Governance – facilitation - integration

17. Sustainable livelihoods approach Facilitation skills Ecosystem services approach IWRM approach Economics Infrastructure Adaptive learning approach

18. Findings: The transition metaphor proved critical in making sense of policy implementation, especially debates about ‘blueprint’ guidance vs social learning The practice of action learning made sense in this context and participants found this practice invaluable, although difficult to square with a performance culture of ‘delivery’ (ticking boxes) Participants valued social learning as an approach to building an IWRM toolkit, although after only 8 workshops not all participants would yet feel confident to put this approach into practice