Public deliberation on water: The case of Uruguay

• In Event: Environmental Visualizations: Connecting Images, Knowledge, and Politics I

Abstract

This paper is about a process of public deliberation (Deci Agua ) on the national water plan held in Uruguay in 2016. The intrdocution briefly sketches the national context on water policy, the elaboration of the national water plan and this deliberation process in particular, which aimed at analyzing and revising a draft of the national water plan by a panel of 15 citizens in close relationship with an advisory group and a coordination team during three months, from October to December 2016. The focus of the paper is on the deliberation process, the policy impact of the Uruguayan public deliberation process and the extent to which the public panel’s report was taken into account for the national water plan, and the internal and external legitimacy of the process. Finally, the conclusions relate to the evaluation of the deliberative process in relation to the foundations of deliberative democracy.

Authors

• Marila Lázaro

• Isabel Bortagaray, Universidad de la Republica