Participatory processes in water governance in Senegal: the case study of the Ecopass project

Sergio Galletta; Hajare Mouhoub; Federica Viola; Cheikh Abdoul Ahad Mbacké Ba; Momar Diongue; Riccardo Mangione; William Foieni; Federico Perotti

Sergio Galletta Hydroaid
Hajare Mouhoub Master's student at Area and Global Studies for International Cooperation(AGIC), University of Turin
Federica Viola 2Master's student at Area and Global Studies for International Cooperation(AGIC), University of Turin
Cheikh Abdoul Ahad Mbacké Ba Cheikh Anta DIOP University, Dakar, Senegal /University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Momar Diongue Cheikh Anta DIOP University, Dakar, Senegal
Riccardo Mangione Independent researcher
William Foieni Former Ecopass project coordinator
Federico Perotti CISV

Abstract

Giving that participation represents a crucial element in any model of environmental governance today,
the article - after describing participatory processes, related to the management of water resources and
to the international development cooperation, and introducing water governance in Senegal - deals with
the features of the process implemented by the Ecopas project in four municipalities in the Dakar
Metropolitan area. The field of application is the governance of environmental resources with a special
focus on water resources. The participatory processes accompanied all the activities carried out by
Ecopas and in particular they focused on the development of water and sanitation guidelines, the Atlas
of issues and challenges of environmental governance, and the territorial pact for environment
conservation and promotion, which was signed by the municipalities targeted by the project. The
guiding approach was the structured dialogue, which promotes in an organised way the active
participation of local communities and Civil Society Organisations (Cso), and their interaction with
policy makers.