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

Résumé

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.