The Centrality of the “Mediation” Concept in the Participatory Management of Water

Oct 15, 2026

The work examines the feasibility and requirements for implementing Brazil’s National Policy of Water Resources and explores mechanisms to enable active public participation in water governance. It argues that social inequality can hinder full participation, and proposes addressing participatory water management through rationality. Mediation is presented as a central theoretical construct to guide environmental education and empowerment via action research, illustrated through formal and non-formal education activities developed with Brazil’s Upper Paranaíba/Maranhão River Basin Committee initiatives.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

National policy and public participation

Mediation as a theoretical construct

Participatory management and rationality

Brazilian legal framework (Law 9.433/97)

Challenges of asymmetry and information access

The Centrality of the “Mediation” Concept in the Participatory Management of Water Irenilda Ângela dos Santos, Federal University of Mato Grosso, Christian Niel Berlinck, Symone Christine de Santana Araújo, Ercília Torres Steinke, Valdir Adilson Steinke, Taissa Ferreira Pianta, Ivete Teresinha Graebner, & Carlos Hiroo Saito (coord.), University of Brasília, Brazil Abstract This work presents questions related to the viability and the requirements for the implementation of a National Policy of Water Resources in Brazil, and identifies the means to bring about active participation by the population in the management of water resources. While social inequalities may bean impediment to the implementation of full participation, it is argued that facing the problems related to participatory management of water resources is to be dealt with in the field of rationality, and mediation has been chosen as the central theoretical construct to guide the process of environmental education and empowerment through action research. Examples of formal and non-formal environmental education activities are brought from actions developed closely with the Commission for Water Basin Committee of High Maranhão River, Central Brazil. Résumé Ce travail présente une série d’interrogations concernant la viabilité et lesexigences de la mise en place d’une Politique Nationale de Ressources del’eau au Brésil et il identifie les moyens pour susciter la participation de la population dans la gestion des ressources hydriques. Bien que les inégalitéssociales ont pu être un obstacle à l’implantation d’une participation complète de la population, il est suggéré que les problèmes reliés à la gestion participative des ressources hydriques doivent être abordés de façon rationnelle. La médiation a été choisie comme concept théorique central pour guider le processus de l’éducation relative à l’environnement lequelsera appuyé par des recherches-action. Des exemples d’activités formelles et non formelles d’éducation relative à l’environnement ont été puisésparmides actions développéespar la Commission pour le Comité du Bassin Hydrographique du haut fleuve Maranhão, Brésil Central. The report of the World Commission on the Environment and Development, presented in 1987 under the title Our Common Future, defended the adoption of a kind of development geared to the long-term maintenance of natural resources under the aegis of sustainability, with special attention given to renewable natural resources (Mebratu, 1998) . Several areas of the expansion 180 Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 10, Spring 2005 of civilization have drawn world attention, and the question of water resources has stood as one of the worldwide environmental concerns, including in our country (Freitas, 1999) . In Brazil, the promulgation of Law 9.433, on January 8, 1997, which established the National Policy of Water Resources, increases the value of this theme in the national environmental scenery, giving central priority to the democratization of the management of river basins and the participation of society in the identification of problems and formulation of solutions. The management of water resources becomes anchored in a model of participatory management and grounded on a diagnosis and a project concerning the availability and the demands of water resources. In theory, this fosters greater participation of society in the management of water resources. However, in most cases there is an asymmetry in this form of participation, which demands encouragement and the preparation of society for this engagement. This can happen because, although the participation of new social groups in the decision-making process has been established among the basic principles of integrated management of water resources, experience demonstrates that the failure in acquiring information by the groups involved (stakeholders) compromises their overall participation (Salles, 2001) . Particip

FAQs

What policy and problem does the work focus on?

It focuses on the viability and requirements for implementing Brazil’s National Policy of Water Resources and on how to enable population participation in managing water resources.

Why is mediation considered central in this study?

Mediation is chosen as the central theoretical construct to guide environmental education and empowerment through action research in participatory water management.

What main challenge to participation is highlighted?

The study notes an asymmetry in participation and explains that failures in acquiring information by stakeholders can compromise their effective involvement.

Oct 15, 2026

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